July 5, 2011

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OEMs Face Parts Shortages as Demand for Trucks Surges

Transport Topics Magazine
Heavy-duty truck manufacturers said they are experiencing rolling components shortages as suppliers who survived the recession struggle to keep up with the unexpectedly rapid surge in demand for new trucks.

Some OEMs said they expected the problem to get worse later this year as they all strive to dramatically increase their production levels.

Christman to Head NC2, Saltiel Returns to Navistar as Chief Marketing Officer

Truck Parts and Service Magazine
Navistar Inc. on Tuesday, June 28, announced that Al Saltiel, former president of NC2 Global, has returned to Navistar Inc. as chief marketing officer. NC2 is the 50/50 global joint venture between Caterpillar and Navistar that develops, manufactures and distributes commercial trucks outside North America and India.

Prior to his two-year post at NC2, Saltiel had served as vice president of marketing for Navistar. Phil Christman, Navistar’s president for global truck operations and a member of the NC2 board of directors, has been named as president of NC2 to leverage opportunities in growth markets.

ISM Report Shows Modest Rebound for Manufacturing

NAM Economic Report
A number of important economic indicators will be released this week, with most economists focused on Friday's employment numbers for June. In light of the decline in manufacturing jobs in May, everyone will be looking for improvement.

A number of last week’s manufacturing reports showed rebounds in new orders and production, including the Institute for Supply Management's (ISM) Purchasing Managers Index. New data on factory orders nationally and manufacturing output in California, to be released this week, will probably continue that trend. With this in mind, I expect manufacturers resumed hiring starting in June and will continue to do so over the coming months. In addition, new data on factory orders and manufacturing output in California will be released.

JD Power and Associates Honors Kenworth Truck Company

Auto Business News
JD Power and Associates, a global marketing information company, has recognized United States-based Kenworth Truck Company with its highest customer satisfaction ranking in the 2011 Heavy Duty Truck Customer Satisfaction Study.

The vehicle won the Heavy Duty Dealer Service Segment. The study ranks customer satisfaction by evaluating manufacturer performance.

Linamar Corporation to Move into Former Volvo CE Site in North Carolina

IHS Global Insight Daily Analysis
Linamar is planning to move into a new site in Skyland, North Carolina (United States), reports the Associated Press (AP). The Canadian supplier is moving into a facility that was shut down by Volvo Construction Equipment (VCE) more than a year ago. Initially, the plant will supply axle parts to Caterpillar and engine blocks to Volvo. Renovation and retooling work at the facility, expected to employ 363 people, is likely to start in August this year.

CNG Engine Firm Westport Inks Development Deal with GM

IHS Global Insight Daily Analysis
General Motors (GM) and Westport Innovations will work together to jointly develop natural gas engine technology for the automaker, according to a release by Westport picked up by the Associated Press (AP). The two companies will reportedly work together on CNG (compressed natural gas) engine controls, emissions, and performance strategies. Westport will also open a new technical centre in Michigan, in addition to the 15 people that the company employs at its Farmington Hills, Michigan, office. Westport is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada.

Significance: CNG is increasingly being discussed as an alternative fuel that could be quickly and easily exploited in the US, given the significant amounts of it that the US currently possesses as a natural resource. Chrysler-Fiat has also been making noise about developing a number of commercial Ram vehicles with CNG capability using Fiat's technology so prevalent in Europe.

Icahn Reports 9.5 Percent Stake in Oshkosh Corporation

Dow Jones News Service
Activist investor Carl Icahn reported 9.51 percent stake in specialty-vehicle maker Oshkosh Corp. (OSK) and said he intends to seek out management to discuss ways to enhance shareholder value.

Shares surged 8.5 percent to $31.40 in recent after-hours trading and are down 18 percent so far this year.

Navistar to Add Surcharge to Buses

WARRENVILLE, IL Market conditions and global demand have raised commodity prices to historical highs, forcing Navistar’s IC Bus to implement a commodity surcharge on its bus models, effective September 15, 2011.

Market prices, which have retreated some but remain higher than the 2009 and 2010 levels, combined with global expansion and investor speculation are driving prices higher. The continued increase in the price of metals, which are essential to bus production, is necessitating price increases up to $1,495.

FMCSA Testing Driver Monitoring Systems

Heavy Duty Trucking Magazine
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is taking a close look at whether onboard driver monitoring systems are an effective way to improve safety.

The agency is mid-way through a multi-year research project designed to measure how well drivers respond to feedback from systems that track lane departures, impending collisions and fatigue, among other indicators. The research also will produce the largest continuous collection of naturalistic driving data ever undertaken, said Olu Ajayi, a research statistician at the agency, in an article describing the effort.

Made (again) in the USA: The Return of American Manufacturing

FORTUNE
Until the end of World War II, America's economy was almost completely self-sufficient. Everything it consumed it also produced. The big shift away from manufacturing came as the U.S. sought to speed the recoveries of war-ravaged Europe and Asia. Trade barriers fell significantly and soon American companies were sending emissaries abroad, looking to do business cheaper by expanding their operations overseas.

The golden era of manufacturing would never come back. By the 1980s, manufacturing made up 25 percent of U.S. labor; it has fallen to about half of that in recent years as technological advances that greatly reduced the costs of transportation and communication also made it cheaper to have operations outside the U.S.

NLRB Proposed Labor Rules Would Shorten Election Timetables and Change “Persuader Activity”

As reported last week, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has proposed rule that would dramatically shorten the length of the union election process. Under current rules, most union elections take place within 56 days of union election petition being filed by a labor union, and the median time frame for these elections are 38 days. Under the new rules being proposed this timeframe would be shortened to as little as two weeks after a union election petition has been filed. The proposed rule would also shorten the time that employers must submit electronic lists of employees to labor unions before an election from 7 days to 2. A copy of the proposed rule is available by clicking here additional information from the NLRB is available here.

FMCSA Seeks Public Comment on Strategic Plan to Improve Truck and Bus Safety

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) today invited the American public to comment on its draft strategic plan that will serve as a five-year guide to achieving its mission to reduce crashes, injuries and fatalities involving large commercial trucks and interstate buses.

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