Truckinginfo.com
While fears of a double-dip recession are easing, GDP and industrial production numbers suggest 2012 will not be as robust as 2011. As recently as June, economists were predicting growth of 3 to 3.5 percent for 2012, but new consensus forecasts are calling for growth of just 2 to 2.5 percent. That one percentage point drop means we may need about 20,000 fewer new trucks this year.
Speaking at HDMA’s Heavy Duty Dialogue last week in Las Vegas, analyst Eli Lustgarten, Senior vice president at Longbow Securities, predicted that 2012 would be a healthy year overall -- and on par with previous post-recession recovery periods -- but he cautioned that we will not witness the same performance we saw last year.
Wolfe Trahan Report
Jan NA Class 8 Truck Orders Dip After Strong Dec. On Friday afternoon, ACT Research reported Jan prelim Class 8 net orders of 25,200, between 30,293 in Dec and 20,603 in Nov. The Jan order pace implies an annual build rate of ~292K, down from the 350K order rate in Dec. The trailing 3- and 6-month annual order rates are both 296K-297K.
Medium-Duty Truck Orders Still Relatively Sluggish. Class 5-7 truck orders of 13,500 in Jan were down from an upwardly revised 14,427 in Dec. The Jan MD order rate implies annual production of roughly 160K, down from 175K in Dec and modestly below our 175K forecast for 2012, potentially under pressure from mixed LTL results on top of ongoing state and local gov’t budget pressures
TruckingInfo.com
Natural gas will become a more popular fuel for commercial trucks if Navistar International and Clean Fuels Corp. can help it, and they intend to.
T. Boone Pickens, the oilman-turned-gas promoter whose BP Capital owns Clean Fuels, joined Navistar executives to announce a deal yesterday morning at the truck builder's new headquarters in Lisle, Ill.
Trailer/Body Builders
Polar Corporation appointed Jim Painter president of Polar Tank Trailer, North America’s largest manufacturer of aluminum, stainless steel, and carbon steel tank trailers.
Painter will be responsible for overall performance of the division, including three manufacturing plants, the dealer network, and several strategic initiatives related to the dramatic growth of the tank trailer industry. He will be based at Polar Tank Trailer’s headquarters in Opole, Minn., and report to Ted Fick, Polar Corporation president and CEO.
Truckinginfo.com
Terry Dotson, president, chairman and CEO of Prestonburg, Ky.-based Worldwide Equipment Enterprises, Saturday was named the American Truck Dealers/Heavy Duty Trucking Truck Dealer of the Year.
"To remain both adaptive and proactive, I am constantly looking for inventive, new ways to better serve our customers and our employees," Dotson says. "In this age of instant gratification everything is better, cheaper, stronger, and faster. Our position is to provide a source of value."
The 22nd Annual HDMA Breakfast & Briefing on Friday, March 23rd from 7:30am -9:00am at the Mid-America Trucking Show in Louisville is only a few short weeks away!
The 2012 keynote speaker is Dan Sobic, Executive Vice President of PACCAR Inc. Mr. Sobic will provide valuable industry-related information based on his 30+ years of experience in the transportation and manufacturing industry.