The Daily Populous

Tuesday December 12nd, 2017 night edition

image for PepsiCo makes biggest public pre-order of Tesla Semis: 100 trucks

Tesla has been trying to convince the trucking community that it can build an affordable electric big rig with the range and cargo capacity to compete with relatively low-cost, time-tested diesel trucks.

About 260,000 heavy-duty Class-8 trucks are produced in North America annually, according to FTR, an industry economics research firm.

PepsiCo’s 100 trucks add to orders by more than a dozen companies such as Wal-Mart Stores Inc, fleet operator J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc, and foodservice distribution company Sysco Corp. Reservations to date are at 267 Tesla trucks, according to a Reuters tally.

PepsiCo intends to deploy Tesla Semis for shipments of snack foods and beverages between manufacturing and distribution facilities and direct to retailers within the 500-mile (800-km) range promised by Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk.

PepsiCo is analyzing what routes are best for its Tesla trucks in North America but sees a wide range of uses for lighter loads like snacks or shorter shipments of heavier beverages, O‘Connell said.

O‘Connell declined to say how much PepsiCo paid to reserve its trucks, when it placed its pre-orders, or whether it plans to lease the trucks or buy them outright.

Tesla initially asked $5,000 per truck for pre-orders but that amount has since risen to about $20,000. »

Nobody is above the Law—Mueller Firing Rapid Response

Authored by act.moveon.org

It would demand an immediate and unequivocal response to show that we will not tolerate abuse of power from Donald Trump.

That's why we're preparing to hold emergency "Nobody is Above the Law" rallies around the country in the event they are needed.

If Mueller is fired AFTER 2 P.M. local time —> events will begin @ noon local time the following day. »

Kremlin: We see Trump's tweets as official statements

Authored by reuters.com

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Tweets by U.S. President Donald Trump are viewed in Moscow as his official position and read by his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, the Kremlin said on Tuesday.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov attends a meeting of Russian President Vladimir Putin with Ben van Beurden, CEO of Royal Dutch Shell, in Moscow, Russia June 21, 2017.

“Naturally, it is reported to Putin along with other information about official statements by politicians,” Peskov said, adding that Putin was not a Twitter user himself. »

Ajit Pai offers no data for latest claim that net neutrality hurt small ISPs

Authored by arstechnica.com
image for

With days to go before his repeal of net neutrality rules, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai issued a press release about five small ISPs that he says were harmed by the rules.

(Title II is the statute that the FCC uses to enforce net neutrality rules and regulate common carriers.).

Sjoberg's Inc., meanwhile, told Pai that the interest rate charged by its bank increased because of the "uncertainty" caused by net neutrality rules. »

Hitler banned it; Gandhi loved it: ‘The Story of Ferdinand,’ the book and, now, film

Authored by washingtonpost.com
image for

The project began as a lark, an author’s hasty effort to write a children’s book manuscript for his artist friend to illustrate.

The book is now the basis for the animated film “Ferdinand,” which opens Friday in theaters, with the main character voiced by the wrestler-actor John Cena.

Perhaps it helps that one of the screenwriters is Tim Federle, who is an award-winning children’s book author. “ »