the last word

Wagging the dog

Mack Trucks president & CEO Paul Vikner greets actor John Ratzenberger on his tour of the OEM's Allentown, PA, world headquarters as host of the TravelChannel program Made in America. Ratzenberger, who won fame as “Cliffie” on the TV comedy Cheers, was taping a segment on unique manufacturing operations in the U.S. For information on the show, go to http://travel.discovery.com/.

Uh, right again

“People argue that heavy trucks require longer braking distances for any given speed, and lower truck speeds help equalize the stopping distance. On the other hand, opponents of lower truck speed limits have suggested that the differential speeds increase speed variance and therefore have a negative impact on highway safety. Our research demonstrates that it is likely both of these arguments are correct.”
— Steven Johnson, professor of industrial engineering, Mack Blackwell National Rural Transportation Study Center, University of Arkansas.

Hard sell

This ad-agency mockup for a rolling billboard campaign proposal brings to mind the question when is eye-grabbing too, well, eye-grabbing? There's no question this graphic design is top shelf stuff. But would coming upon this rig drive passing motorists to buy more soda or just to distraction?

Lending the trucks

Penske Truck Leasing Co. assisted NBC News with its 4th annual “Lend a Hand Today” goodwill road trip last month by providing trucks to haul donated materials to charities in Phoenix, Minneapolis, Kansas City and Austin. The yearly spring trip, televised on NBC's “Today” show and hosted by its weatherman, Al Roker, aims to assist organizations deemed to be working to make their communities a better place by providing them with essential items charities need to operate. Along with Penske Truck Leasing, a joint venture of Penske Corp and General Electric, other co-sponsors included Toyota and General Mills. Information on how to help each charity featured on the tour may be found at www.today.msnbc.com.

Road warriors

And we thought a Crown Vic Interceptor was a pretty mean policing machine. Determined perhaps to catch bad guys even when they go off-road, the City of Lone Tree, CO, recently went whole hog, so to speak, and ordered up this pair of Hummer H3 cruisers tricked out in full pursuit trim for the municipal police force.

Off Main Street

TheCarConnection.com web site recently ran an online contest to locate the most outlandish street names in the U.S. Garnering 1st Prize was “Psycho Path” in Traverse City, MI, while “Divorce Court” in Heather Highlands, PA, was awarded 2nd Place. Among the runners-up: the intersection of Lonesome Road and Hardup Road, in Albany, GA.