Orland Park, Ill. – Despite the economic times, the heavy duty aftermarket industry demonstrated its resolve and the need for suppliers and distributors to stay connected with a strong showing at Heavy Duty Aftermarket Week (HDAW) in Las Vegas, according to HDAW organizers.
A total of over 1,500 individuals attended the three-day conference, including 229 exhibitors and 426 distributor executives.
The 5th annual HDAW conference was held at The Mirage in Las Vegas, NV, January 18-21, 2010. More than 1,100 people attended the opening reception on Monday evening and started the week with an optimistic and genuine feel of excitement for the relationship-based industry.
The U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware has confirmed the plan of reorganization for steel and aluminum wheel maker Accuride Corp., which could allow the company to exit from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection before the end of the month.
"The reorganization plan will allow Accuride to emerge from Chapter 11 after only five months, with the financial flexibility necessary to ensure the continued pursuit of our strategic objectives," Bill Lasky, chairman, president and chief executive officer, said in a statement.
The Obama Administration is asking Congress to approve a nearly $10 billion Environmental Protection Agency budget that would shift $20 million in California truck diesel emissions retrofit grant funding to a nationwide diesel emissions reduction program that also includes funding for rail and marine diesel emissions reduction projects.
The U.S. Marine Corps Systems Command has awarded Navistar Defense a contract for $752 million to provide 1,050 International MaxxPro Dash Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles.
"The threats that our warfighters face continue to change every day and we understand the urgency needed to rapidly engineer and deliver new Dash vehicles to defeat emerging threats," said Archie Massicotte, president, Navistar Defense. "We are constantly looking at enhancements across our vehicle portfolio to provide warfighters with the most advanced equipment."
Net orders for heavy-duty Class 8 commercial vehicles fell to 6,513 units in January, down 18 percent from January 2009, with medium-duty Class 5-7 net orders down 6 percent in the same month-to-month comparison, according to ACT Research Co. (ACT).
“This doesn’t shock me,” Kenny Vieth, partner and senior analyst with ACT, told Fleet Owner. “We still have a supply-demand imbalance when it comes to freight volumes and truck capacity; basically, we still have too many trucks and not enough freight.”