TEACHING AN OLD DOG NEW TRICKS
Move over Lassie and Rin Tin Tin, the Mack Bulldog’s popularity is soaring, and he doesn’t even have his own TV show – yet.
After his stint as a pin-up pup in a series of lush beach-scene calendar photos, Mack has yet again moved beyond his everyday life as a muscular hood ornament. This time the bulldog, which dates to 1917, is a talking cartoon host and star of a Mack Trucks-branded CD-ROM game.
The CD contains Mack Challenge, in which players answer questions about Mack, pop culture and highway trivia. It also contains truck videos. Mack distributes the CD free to customers via direct mail, trade shows and dealers.
BIODIESEL ROCKS
Having directed his first movie in 22 years, rock legend Neil Young had plenty to talk about with Reuters news service, but didn’t mind digressing about what was fueling a month-long concert tour to promote the film, Greendale.
“I have 17 diesel vehicles, and they’re all running on vegetable oil farmed by American farmers,” says Young. His ag-friendly comments are no surprise, given that he’s a founder of the annual Farm Aid charity concerts. The movie also keeps the common man in mind, dealing with corporate cheating and the destruction of natural resources.
ALL I ASKED FOR WAS A WINDOW
Federal Highway Administration Administrator Mary Peters took her message to the streets when she kicked off Work Zone Awareness Week from a makeshift office near I-95 in Springfield, Va., an area known as the “mixing bowl” because of massive construction. “Safety is not a spectator sport,” says Peters, who staged the event to demonstrate that construction zones – like offices – contain workers, and that all drivers should take extra precautions. Work zone fatalities increased 53 percent from 1998 to 2002.
FORCED TAILGATING SAVES A LIFE
“It’s a company truck. Besides, what’s a vehicle compared to a life?”
—Mark Bartholomew, who stopped an out-of-control car in Allentown, Pa., by pulling his truck in front of it, saving the life of the unconscious driver.
TINY IRELAND GETS BIG BROTHER
“It applies to any enclosed work space, including more than 10,000 pubs, as well as billiard halls, private clubs, home offices, even a lone trucker’s cab.”
—Associated Press report on workplace tobacco use ban that was expected to be approved in Ireland.
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