Transport Topics Magazine
The U.S. Class 8 truck fleet appears to have halted a lengthy decline, according to new registration data for the last quarter of 2010, and fleet executives, truck dealers and analysts all said vehicle sales should continue to rise.
R.L. Polk & Co. reported that Class 8 vehicles in operation totaled about 3.57 million trucks in the fourth quarter. Although that total was not quite a 0.1 percent increase from the year-ago period, it did reverse four straight quarters of year-over-year declines driven by the recession. In the third quarter of 2010, the total fleet shrank by 1.7 percent.
The 21st Annual HDMA Breakfast & Briefing on Friday, April 1st from 7:30am -9:00am at the Mid-America Trucking Show in Louisville is only a few short weeks away!
This year our 2011 keynote speaker is Daniel C. Ustian, Chairman, President and CEO of Navistar International Corporation.
Transport Topics Magazine
The number of new commercial trailers registered in the United States in 2010 reached 105,471, a 42 percent increase from the previous dismal year, R.L. Polk & Co. reported.
“2010 was a great increase over ’09, but 2009 was the worst year for trailer registrations that we have seen,” said Gary Meteer Sr., Polk’s account director in charge of the report. “It just couldn’t have been worse.”
The Department of Energy's monthly fuel price projections continue to rise in lockstep with the price of crude oil and diesel fuel. The monthly projection for February, up 3 cents from the January forecast, sees diesel fuel averaging $3.43 for 2011 and $3.51 for 2012.
On-highway diesel fuel retail prices averaged $2.99 per gallon in 2010.
Techdirt.com
From the “Well-there's-a-different-strategy” department: We've seen different companies respond in different and creative ways to companies making knockoffs in the past. One of my favorites was the South African clothing firm that created an entire (secret) knockoff line of clothes to "compete" with unauthorized knockoffs.
However Sebastian Brannstrom points us to a really surprising story out of Sweden. While the linked article mostly complains about knockoffs and talks about the need for greater "patent" protections, at the end there's the fascinating story of truckmaker Scania (Google translation of the original Swedish) and how it responded to the discovery of a Chinese firm making knockoff trucks. Rather than freak out, it actually reached out to the firm, and helped them design different trucks.
Transport Topics Magazine
Truck tonnage surged 8 percent in January from a year earlier, helped by continued growth in the manufacturing sector, pushing American Trucking Associations’ tonnage index to its highest level since January 2008.
The advance seasonally adjusted index reached 117.1, improving for the 14th consecutive month and rising at the fastest pace since April, ATA announced Feb. 23. On a sequential basis, tonnage climbed 3.8 percent in January over December.
Transport Topics Magazine
Truck makers and dealers sold 9,236 Class 8 vehicles in the United States during January, a jump of 25 percent over January 2010’s pace, but about 2,500 below December’s strong results, WardsAuto.com reported.
Analysts and industry executives said the year-over-year increase provided another sign that the truck-building industry was climbing out of the recession.
With world events showing the importance of energy independence, the American Trucking Associations called on the Obama administration to stop blocking access to U.S.- held energy assets.
ATA Vice President and Regulatory Affairs Counsel Rich Moskowitz testified on during a Department of Interior hearing Feb 24 on the agency's five-year plan for offshore oil and gas production.
Equipment World
MHC Kenworth Colorado was named 2010 Kenworth Dealer of the Year for the United States and Canada at the annual Kenworth dealer meeting held at the PACCAR Engine Plant in Columbus, Mississippi. The award encompasses MHC Kenworth Colorado locations in Colorado Springs, Denver, Grand Junction, Greeley and Pueblo, Colorado, and Cheyenne, Wyoming.
MHC Kenworth Colorado was chosen as Kenworth Dealer of the Year from among Kenworth’s five Gold Award winners for 2010. Other Gold Award winners are Custom Truck Sales, Edmonton Kenworth, Kenworth of Buffalo and Kenworth of South Louisiana.