Tracy Samilton

EPA's Push For More Ethanol Could Be Too Little, Too Late

Tracy Samilton — Mon, 01 Apr 2013 07:23:00 +0000

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency could soon issue a final ruling that aims to force oil companies to replace E10, gasoline mixed with 10 percent ethanol, with E15.

This move could come just as widespread support for ethanol, which is made from corn, appears to be eroding.

Mike Mitchell was once a true believer in ethanol as a homegrown solution to foreign oil imports.

Study To Test 'Talking' Cars That Would Warn Drivers Of Unseen Dangers

Tracy Samilton — Tue, 21 Aug 2012 21:50:00 +0000

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j676bIqL4-8

New Schedules Push Graveyard Shift Off The Clock

Tracy Samilton — Thu, 14 Jun 2012 21:44:00 +0000

As car companies struggle to meet growing demand, the third shift is making a comeback. But many factories running on three shifts are doing it differently from in the past. And that new "three crew" shift pattern could make what's normally a hard job even harder.

At Ford's Michigan Assembly Plant in Wayne, employees work 10-hour shifts four days a week. The so-called A crew gets days, while the B crew gets afternoons. But the C crew shift rotates its start time every week. On Fridays and Saturdays, workers start at 6:00 a.m.

Hear That? Annoying Hum Has Canada Making Noise

Tracy Samilton — Thu, 10 May 2012 19:20:00 +0000

Thousands of people in Windsor, Ontario, say they are being invaded by an obnoxious noise emanating from outside Detroit. They call it the "Windsor Hum," and it's really two sounds — a deep, very low-frequency hum, like a diesel truck idling in your driveway, and a deep, vibrating pulse that you feel more than you hear.

Roy Norton, Detroit's Canadian consul general, says the noise is coming from the man-made Zug Island, which sits in the Detroit River. The noise apparently began when U.S.

Rough Patches Behind It, Toyota Tries To Accelerate

Tracy Samilton — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 07:01:00 +0000

Paul Schubert and his wife decided to buy a new car last summer — a really fuel-efficient one. After a lot of research, they settled on a Toyota Prius. But there was a problem: They couldn't find one.

The tsunami that devastated Japan in March had dried up supplies of the Prius, which is made in Japan, and a dealer told them they would have to wait — "about four months," Schubert says.