The price of a gallon of diesel has risen two bucks in a year, from $2.50 to $4.50. The escalation threatens to decimate the U.S. trucking industry. The New York Times tells the tale: "More than 45,000 vehicles, or 3 percent of the tractor fleet, have disappeared from the highways since early last year, according to America’s Commercial Transportation Research in Columbus, Ind." And we're not just talking about the small independents, neither. "In the first quarter, 935 of these larger operators [five trucks or more] shut down, the American Trucking Association reports, up from 385 a year earlier and the highest quarterly failure rate since the 2001 recession." The knock-on effect: the used truck market is glutted with abandoned rigs. "There are so many used trucks in dealer lots now that some of the larger dealers have stopped buying them,” said salesman James McCormack of www.truckertotrucker.com. “From what dealers tell me, exports have become their best outlet, particularly to Russia.” High diesel prices, a weak dollar and thousands of U.S. trucks are shipped to our former Communist enemy. Ain't capitalism grand?

TTAC's dedicated a fair amount of bandwidth to the UK's anti-car jihad. Our coverage has included London's Congestion Charge, speed cameras, CO2-related taxes and more. And now, finally, we offer a link to a proper polemic that encapsulates the logic and emotion of the British chattering class' anti-car arguments. Novelist and Independent columnist Joan Smith — "known for her human rights activism and writing on subjects such as atheism and feminism"– claims petrol-profligate pistonheads are forcing Chancellor Gordon Brown to reconsider yet another increase in the UK's fuel duty. And she's not a happy camper. "Welcome to 21st-century realpolitik, where the fact that overconsumption of oil is destroying the planet matters less than a noisy group of wannabe Jeremy Clarksons… I'm not saying that people shouldn't own cars, especially in rural areas where public transport is inadequate. I am suggesting that our present level of car use is a luxury we can no longer afford, which is why I always give a quiet cheer when the cost of petrol and diesel rises. In residential areas two- and three-car families have become the norm, and I'm not talking about little runabouts like my Ford Ka; the same people who whinge about the price of petrol have often spent £40,000 or £50,000 on top-of-the range saloons and SUVs without stopping to think of the cost in road accidents and premature deaths from respiratory disease." 

Jay Leno, NBC comedian and car fanatic, would like to offer Motown's maven some independent analysis. So he does, via msnbc.com. "The type of vehicles America makes best are, unfortunately, not the type of vehicles that people really want anymore… Where we seem to lose it is in the low-bucks econocar… I believe that, all things being equal, Americans will buy American. It just has to be as good as the competition; it doesn’t have to be better… If you look at the new line of G.M. cars, they are almost as good as what the Europeans are doing… America does technology well, and I think this is how the companies will bring those buyers back. I think cars like the Chevy Volt, which is entirely battery-powered, or hydrogen cars from Chrysler, Ford and G.M. will take off…. One last thing: No matter what happens, do not expect all American cars to go Eurosize. American buttocks are not getting any smaller." So, aside from Jay's belief that close enough for rock and roll is close enough for rock and roll, and setting aside the issue of what constitutes an American car (Aveo? Accord?), and the fact that the Volt is actually a hybrid and a whole bunch of other stuff, the funnyman nails it. What do you reckon: Bob Lutz Award nominee?

Well, here's some counter-intuitive thinking to challenge TTAC's Best and Brightest and/or infuriate The New York Times' Editorial Board (sorry, Wilkinson, it's true): new highways are less environmentally damaging than new mass transit. "Each mile of urban highway typically provides far more passenger miles of travel than a mile of light-rail transit line. The average mile of U.S. light-rail line, for instance, [provides] only 15 per cent as many passenger miles as the average lane mile of urban freeway.” This startling conclusion comes to us from U.S. environmental economist Randal O'Toole [via Canada's Globe and Mail]. Needless to say, O'Toole's crunched the numbers: "A 1-per-cent increase in new-model cars on the road produces more benefits – in energy efficiency and in greenhouse gas reductions – than any light-rail system can produce." He also points out that mass transit systems are a 40 to 50 year investment that can't take advantage of ongoing technological improvements like… cars. That said, O'Toole favors a range of government interventions to keep things moving: tolls, toll lanes on expressways, peak-hour tolls and the "smartest traffic-light technology that money can buy." 

Another Friday, another bombshell from The General. Yes, once again, GM waits until the markets head-off for the Hamptons before revealing some bad news. Last time, out it was Rick Wagoner's $14.4m annual pay packet– which was good news for Mr. Wagoner and his heirs, bad news for management accountability. This time it's GM's SEC filing re: the cost of the American Axle strike. And there it is: $2.82b. Automotive News [sub] breaks it down this way: "GM estimated that it suffered a $1.8 billion impact in the second quarter alone. That's on top of $800 million from lost production during the first quarter and another $215 million in assistance GM offered to American Axle to finance employee buy-downs and buyouts." Two-hundred-and-fifteen? Hey, what's $15m between friends? Anyway, the total damage makes the cost of the United Auto Workers (UAW) strikes at two GM plants seem like a bargain, at just $200m. Yesterday, we totally missed that Standard & Poor's upped GM to a "B" rating, five levels below investment grade. Reuters reported "The outlook on GM remains negative, meaning a rating cut is still possible. The risk of a downgrade would increase if GM's lower-than-expected U.S. light-vehicle sales through 2009 result in pushing the company's liquidity toward 'undesirable levels,.'" And the next day, a Friday, GM reveals the hit. Huh.

As well it might, what with the price of gas at the $4 a gallon mark (apologies to our foreign readers for our pump shock). A quick digression… I love salesmen. Yes, they invented the word oleaginous. Yes, they are, in the main, morally compromised individuals. But there are very few other members of our society who're paid to be optimistic– especially in the face of disaster. That scene in Planes, Trains and Automobiles, where loser salesman Del Griffith sells plastic curtain rings to passengers at the bus terminal, is a perfect illustration how a salesmen can go from zero to hero in a heartbeat. Now, when I got a press release "RV Rental Firm Takes the 'Bummer' Out of Summer with Gas Rebate Promotion," I sensed the hand of a master. So I called Rob Tischler, President of Allstar Coaches, and stuck it to him. The resulting interview explains why Death of a Salesman is a comedy in Russia. If you know what I mean. [apologies for the audio quality]

The fastest way to kill an automotive brand: sell a POS. The bloodletting caused by a brand new clunker can be spectacular. Anyone remember the 1981 Cadillac Fleetwood V-8-6-4? How about the Cimarron? It has taken Caddy more than 20 years to climb back from that double debacle if, indeed, they have. But there’s another, slower and more insidious way to ruin a storied car brand: distraction. When a carmaker builds a vehicle that muddies the marque’s core message, it mortgages its future. To wit, the Lexus LF-A.

The United States Postal Service is the single largest buyer of E85-compatible vehicles. According to Bloomberg, from 1995 – 2005, the government agency has used your tax money (and customers') to purchase some 30k corn juice-compatible trucks and minivans. So how's that going then? "You're getting fewer miles per gallon, and it's costing us more,'' according to Walt O'Tormey, P.O. engineering veep. In specific, the mail carrier's gas consumption jumped by more than 1.5m gallons. Well, duh. E85 doesn't deal the mpgs like regular. Still, a Postal Service study put a number to their pain: the new vehicles got as much as 29 percent fewer miles to the gallon than their previous trucks. Oh, and the post office only fueled a thousand of their E-85 compatible fleet with Iowa's best, due to availability. (Stroke of luck, that.) The rest of the article bashes E85, but good. Including news (to us) that the Sierra Club's lining-up against the bio-fuel. "Not only does this [CAFE credit for E85 vehicles] do nothing to improve fuel efficiency,'' says Daniel Becker, an environmental lawyer and former head of Sierra Club's global-warming program. "It's also ensuring that we're going to use more gasoline.'' Yeah, that sucks. Unless, of course, you're a corn farmer.

January 13, 2008. Reuters. "Ford Chairman Bill Ford on Sunday said the automaker's plan to return its North American operations to profitability in 2009 is 'progressing very well.'" May 23, 2008. Automotive News [sub]. "Ford Motor Co. said today it will cut North American production and retreated from earlier profit outlooks, saying it expects only 'to be about break-even' before taxes in 2009." About? What's that, give or take a couple hundred million? Anyway, Ford's slicing North American production by 15 percent in the second quarter, down 20k units to 690k vehicles. And you can bet that the majority (if not all) of those not-produced vehicles will be high-profit trucks and SUVs. A statement from CEO Big Al Mulally just about said as much. "The challenge affecting the entire industry is the accelerating shift in consumer demand away from large trucks and SUVs to smaller cars and crossovers — combined with a steep rise in commodity prices and the weak U.S. economy." FoMoCo's "how low can you go" ain't done yet. The Blue Oval Boyz are dropping third quarter production by 15 to 20 percent and fourth-quarter production another two to eight percent. Or, come to think of it, more. 

The New York Times reports that the failure of the Interstate 35W bridge in downtown Minneapolis had many fathers. A study by Gray Plant Mooty, a Minneapolis law firm hired by the state legislature, indicates that the collapse was caused by bad design, bad maintenance, bad inspections and bad enforcement. "In their 84-page report, the investigators laid out a pattern of missed opportunities and policy violations: inspection reports that failed to quantify the severity of corrosion, officials who later said they had not known that their duties included reviewing such inspections and a lack of special provisions for where heavy equipment should be placed for the construction work." Needless to say, the post-tragedy investigation has turned into partisan politics and finger-pointing. “It appears that some of what was happening was due to a lack of funding and communication problems,” said State Representative Bernie Lieder, a Democrat who is co-chairman of the committee that assigned the investigation. “You have to say that the governor bears some responsibility.” Seems to me there's plenty of blame to go around. The "accident" on August 1, 2007 killed thirteen people and injured 145 others.

If you like to drive fast, you like to drive late at night. Yes, ultimate visibility is reduced, but there's nothing quite like caning a fast car down a deserted road in the dead of night. Distractions– both inside and outside the car– disappear. The entire world is right there in front of you, rushing towards you. The senses sharpen. If you're lucky enough to be driving a convertible, the night smells seem infinitely more distinct, more complex… I remember driving my TVR Chimera in the hills above Manchester (UK) at three am, running Hell for leather, savoring the pop and crackle of the ridiculously powerful re-jigged Buick-evolved V8. And then I saw a Mini up ahead. Not a MINI. A Mini. And no matter what I did to catch up, I didn't. I couldn't. I was humiliated but happy. A like-minded soul was enjoying the night air, doing what I loved doing. Who could begrudge him that? Any tales from the dark side you care to share? 

Today's editorial on the Nissan GT-R's Nürburgring record (second fastest-ever lap by a production car) raises some interesting questions about the veracity of that claim. On one hand, who cares? My first experience in a proper car on a proper track– riding shotgun in a tail-happy 911 with Jody Scheckter at Porsche's Weissach test track– taught me I could never do what professional drivers do to get a car around a track in as short a time as humanly possible. Nor, for that matter, did I want to. (Scary is just a word for nothing left to think.) Even if the GT-R can lap the 'Ring faster than a Porsche Carrera GT, I can't. Paint me respectfully unenthralled. On the other hand, what about the truth? Nissan knew full well that setting a 'Ring record would guarantee positive PR. If they cut corners or fudged the protocol to do the deed, they should be held accountable. In fact, Nissan should make a public statement on the issue, so that we may expose their weasel words, or murmur appreciatively over their mea culpa or issue an apology for besmirching their good name. The ball's in your court, Carlos. 

Jeremy Clarkson's strident, xenophobic and bombastic opinions aside, he's a rare bird, a true master of the craft. Case in point: former car salesman and failed Top Gear presenter Jason Dawe. "How to test drive a car properly" begins in the great Clarksonian "I'll get to the car bit when I bloody feel like it" tradition, trying to amuse us with tales from the mattress department. (Snoring is sooooo funny.) And then… "How can you possibly get a proper feel for a new car when you find yourself driving around the local industrial estate with an over anxious salesman sat beside you bellowing into his mobile and indicating the next turn back to the garage? Rental offers a very simple solution, with a lot of the main fleets offering a huge choice of vehicles. The chances are that if you have your eye on a car, your local rental agency will be able to get it for you. And hire doesn’t have to be expensive – ignore the published tariffs and do some bargaining – you might be surprised at the deals with which you could end up. For the sake of spending just a couple of hundred pounds for a week’s rental, you could save yourself thousands if you find the car isn’t for you." I suppose if you're looking for the car that isn't for you, a rental is as good a place as any in which to look. And now a word from our sponsor– I mean another word from our sponsor: "Avis confirm that rental experiences influence new car buying decisions. On handing back the rental car 44% of UK renters said they were slightly or much more likely to add the model to their next new car shopping list." So Jason, which is it: slightly or much more likely? 

The bio-fuel industry has an answer for critics who consider the whole food-for-fuel business a dangerous, back asswards proposition: second generation bio-fuels! Ethanol v2 proponents believe that a new range of non-food crops is the "answer" to kvetching. Only it isn't. The New York Times reports that "biologists and botanists are warning that they, too, may bring serious unintended consequences. Most of these newer crops are what scientists label invasive species — that is, weeds — that have an extraordinarily high potential to escape biofuel plantations, overrun adjacent farms and natural land, and create economic and ecological havoc in the process." If that's not enough to put you off the idea, how about some specifics? "The giant reed, previously used mostly in decorations and in making musical instruments — is a fast-growing, thirsty species that has drained wetlands and clogged drainage systems in other places where it has been planted. It is also highly flammable." Willy De Greef, incoming secretary general of EuropaBio (an industry group) says hakuna matata; "biofuel farmers would inevitably introduce new crops carefully because they would not want growth they could not control." Geoffrey Howard, an invasive species expert with the International Union for Conservation of Nature, is not impressed. “We’ve had 100 years of experience with introductions of these crops that turned out to be disastrous for environment, people, health.”

The following was posted anonymously on a UAW website. The facts of the matter have not been substantiated. I'm re-publishing it for two reasons. First, no one is talking about the potential (or actual) quality problems created by the squeeze on domestic suppliers, or the QC impact of recent and ongoing union strikes and stoppages, or the ongoing threat to auto workers' collective skills posed by job reclassification and employee buyouts, or (as in this case) the piss-poor corporate culture that still lingers within The Big 2.8's empires. Second, I'm inviting our front line readers to come into the light and tell it like it is. If you want to drop the dime/let the chips fall where they may, I guarantee your anonymity.

"We had a fire extinguisher get backed into by a forklift blowing up and covering light bars. So they make us clean them off with water still leaving the residue on there not notifying chrysler this problem even happened. Then friday morning someone forgot to lock parts on a truck going to chrysler so here we go all the parts fly of the trailer to the ground about a 5 foot fall these were break calipers rotors and a couple other parts not notifying chrysler of the damage.. just thought u want to know.. I wouldnt buy a car from this plant i see to many bad parts going over to chrysler and half the time it is not good.  so Ill update u with any other foul ups we have. What they dont know wont hurt them as the motto goes."