The American Truck Dealers led a coalition of trucking industry executives Wednesday to meet with senior members of the Obama administration and to discuss the state of the industry, the impact of higher costs resulting from new emission mandates and options to boost medium- and heavy-duty truck sales.
The meeting, held at the U.S. Department of Treasury included Ron Bloom, Obama's senior counsel for manufacturing policy; Kyle Treadway, ATD chairman; Dick Witcher, ATD vice chairman; and Phil Brady, NADA/ATD president. The discussion laid out the economic and environmental challenges facing truck purchasers, which has resulted in depressed sales of more than 60 percent compared to four years ago. Other stakeholders at the meeting included truck and engine manufacturers, drivers, lease and rental companies, equipment manufacturers and fleet managers.
FTR Associates has released preliminary data showing August Class 8 truck total net orders for all major North American OEMs at 12,337 units, up 8.3 percent over July's net orders and 16.8 percent better than August 2009.
August order activity came in near the monthly average of 13,000 units recorded over the last six months. The figure includes U.S., Canada, Mexico and exports.
Troy, MI - AxleTech International, a global provider of suspension and braking components for heavy-duty commercial and military vehicles, will hold a grand opening/ribbon cutting ceremony for its new worldwide headquarters facility.
Located in south Troy, Michigan, AxleTech's new facility encompasses 210,000 square feet and will be staffed by nearly 200 production, distribution and professional employees (a 140-percent increase to employment at the company's old Troy, Michigan headquarters).
Mack Trucks said Tuesday will boost employment by 125 workers at its Macungie, Pa., truck assembly plant, starting in October.
In addition to recalling laid-off workers, Mack anticipates it will hire new employees, although it is "too soon to say exactly how many,"it said in an e-mailed statement
ORLAND PARK, Ill. - The Association of Diesel Specialists, (ADS) and the Automotive Electric Association (AEA) have announced their official sponsorship of Heavy Duty Aftermarket Week (HDAW). HDAW '11 will be held Monday, Jan. 17 through Thursday, Jan. 20, 2011, at The Mirage in Las Vegas.
"We wanted the ability to provide more education, networking and business opportunities to our members, both suppliers and service dealers/distributors,"said Chuck Hess, ADS president. "The HDAW venue provides different but related markets for your bang for your buck."
Warrenville, IL - Providing low particulate emissions, natural gas is growing among regional haul fleets. To be prepared to meet increasing market demands, Navistar is currently in the process of developing a product strategy to offer natural gas powered International medium-duty trucks.
During the recent Electric Utility Fleet Managers Conference (EUFMC), Navistar demonstrated a natural gas powered medium-duty vehicle featuring a MaxxForce DT-466 conversion kit developed by Emissions Solutions Incorporated (ESI) of McKinney, Texas. ESI offers conversions ranging from 175-300 horsepower with 460-860 lb.-ft. torque and are capable of supporting both liquefied and compressed natural gas.
SOUTHFIELD, Mich. - There were 354,400 used commercial vehicles (GVW Class 3-8) registered in the U.S. during the first two quarters of 2010. This historic number sets a new record for used commercial vehicle registrations in a six-month timeframe and represents nearly 68 percent of the commercial vehicle market, Polk says. Additionally, this figure represents an increase of 28.8 percent over the same timeframe in 2009.
"The significant increase in used vehicle registrations so far this year is indicative of an up-tick in the industry with the changeover of the commercial fleet," said Gary Meteer, director, sales and client services, at Polk. "Large fleet owners and operators are upgrading to new vehicles, and therefore the smaller fleet companies and independent owner operators have great opportunities to find available clean used equipment."