August 1, 2011

Resources

Oshkosh Defense Receives Order for 7,000 FMTV Trucks and Trailers

Business Wire
Oshkosh Defense, a division of Oshkosh Corporation (NYSE:OSK), will deliver nearly 7,000 additional Family of Medium Tactical Vehicles (FMTV) trucks and trailers to the U.S. Army following an order from the U.S. Army TACOM Life Cycle Management Command (LCMC). Oshkosh has now received orders for nearly 26,000 FMTV trucks and trailers, and is delivering vehicles to meet the Army's delivery schedule.

"We continue to support the Army on this successful program with the on-time delivery of very high-quality, Oshkosh-built FMTV trucks and trailers," said Mike Ivy, vice president and general manager of Army Programs for Oshkosh Defense. "Our robust manufacturing capabilities, combined with the exceptional value Oshkosh brings to this program as a specialty vehicle manufacturer, prompted the Army to order more vehicles at an earlier point in the program than they had anticipated before the award to Oshkosh."

The Commercial Vehicle Outlook Conference 2011: A Premier Industry Educational and Networking Event!

Take Advantage of the Special Early Registration Offers!
FIRST 100 TO REGISTER: Attend the by-invitation-only Avondale Trucking Partners Summit

FIRST 250 TO REGISTER: Receive an autographed copy of Karl Rove's book, "Courage and Consequence"

Nelson Global Products Announces Strategic Acquisition of Morton Industries and BSI To Bolster and Complement Strong Product Lineup

Stoughton, WI - Aug. 1, 2011 -- Nelson Global Products Inc., a global leader in the design and manufacture of tubular and exhaust products for commercial vehicle markets, has acquired Morton Industries LLC and Bradley Services Inc. (BSI), both of Morton, IL, effective immediately.

Morton Industries and BSI will continue to operate under the leadership of Chris Ober, their current President, and his experienced management team.

ACT: Used Truck Sales Rise M/M but Drop 6 percent Y/Y, Trailer Sales

Overdrive Magazine
Used Class 3-8 truck sales in June increased 9 percent over May despite a lack of available inventory, said ACT Research Co. For the year, used sales are 6 percent behind last year’s pace.

Meanwhile, the firm reported net trailer orders in June dropped 26 percent from May, the third consecutive monthly decline.

The Next Engine Emissions Milestone

Fleet Equipment Magazine
In June, NHTSA published its Final Environmental Impact Statement, in which it noted, "Emissions from the United States account for about 17.4 percent of the total global CO2 emissions. The U.S. transportation sector contributed 31.2 percent of the total U.S. CO2 emissions in 2009 with heavy-duty vehicles accounting for 21.2 percent of total U.S. CO2 emissions from transportation. Thus, 6.6 percent of total U.S. CO2 emissions come from heavy-duty vehicles."

To address these concerns, starting in model year 2014, the proposed standards cover 18-wheeler tractor-trailer type vehicles down to the largest pickup trucks and vans, and all types and sizes of work trucks and buses in between—fire and rescue trucks, logging trucks, dump trucks, flat-bed trucks, trucks equipped with cranes and lifts, cement mixers, refrigerated trucks, cargo and step vans. These vehicles make up the transportation segment’s second-largest contributor to oil consumption and greenhouse gas (GH) emissions.

Canada’s Economy Shrank 0.3 Percent in May Posting the Largest Drop in Two Years

Canada’s gross domestic product fell in May by the most in two years due to temporary disruptions in the mining and oil and gas sector, government data showed.

Output fell 0.3 percent in May to C$1.26 trillion ($1.32 trillion) on a seasonally adjusted basis, after being little changed in April and gaining 0.3 percent in March, Statistics Canada said today in Ottawa. Economists in a Bloomberg survey forecast the economy would grow 0.1 percent, based on the median of 24 responses.

Caterpillar Recalls 600,000 Engines from Dozens of Heavy Equipment OEMs

ENR
Caterpillar Inc. doesn't just build engines for its own machines; it also sells them to other heavy equipment makers.

Yesterday's federal consent order and recall of nearly 600,000 Caterpillar diesel engines involves dozens of original-equipment manufacturers of trucks and heavy equipment, according to public records obtained by ENR.

Component Shortages Grow; OEMs Report Supply Problems

Transport Topics Magazine
Shortages of components for new heavy-duty trucks are growing, leading vehicle manufacturers to cut back their sales forecasts as their backlog of truck orders continues to mount, executives said.

Mark Pigott, chairman and CEO of Paccar Inc., said last week that supply problems had hit his company and those of his competitors. Paccar builds Peterbilt and Kenworth trucks.

Concern Grows Over NAFTA Class 8 Sales

Despite healthy revenues and profits being posted by truck makers and related suppliers, there’s growing uncertainty over the strength of Class 8 sales, with several OEMs reducing their forecasts, in part because of component shortages and a lack of production capacity.

“We have lowered the range [of Class 8 retail sales] due to the uneven economic recovery and supplier capacity constraints, especially tires and chassis components,” noted Dan Sobic, Paccar Corp.’s executive vp in the company’s second quarter earnings report.

Trucking Poised for Rise in M&A Activity

Fleet Owner Magazine
Not since before the Great Recession of 2007-09 took hold has the term “M&A” been tossed around in connection with trucking. But that may be changing.

One recent research study indicates that over half of the motor carriers surveyed would be interested in buying or selling a firm— with larger carriers (over $25 million in revenues) being twice as likely to be (at least) interested in buying, compared to smaller carriers (under $25 million in revenues). Interest in potentially engaging in M&A activity was covered in the recent Second Quarter Business Expectations Survey released by Transport Capital Partners (TCP).

17 Easy Steps to 9.5 Mpg for Class 8s

Heavy Duty Trucking Magazine
Owner-operator Henry Albert was at the Shell SuperRigs event in Kenly, N.C. in June, but he wasn't showing his truck in the conventional sense. He was walking anyone who was interested around his truck pointing out fuel-saving strategies he uses to achieve an average of 9 mpg.

Henry is a 26-year veteran owner-operator from Mooresville, N.C., and currently part of Freightliner's Slice of Life program. He takes his fuel economy and his business very seriously. During his time in trucking, he has been a company driver, owner-operator, and a small-fleet owner. He's a single-truck independent today. He downsized a few years ago, and now has, as he puts it, half his fleet parked. He drives one of the trucks, while keeping his eye out for a suitable driver for the other -- he admits he's been looking for a while.

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