Blog

EnRoute - February 27, 2013


Top Stories

Trucking safety programs like the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and any other programs that offer funding to motor carrier safety operations, could mostly be exempt from any funding cuts because of a piece of legislation that was signed into law in 1985. FULL STORY

Canada has announced final regulations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions for trucks and buses that will mirror the regulations set to go into effect starting next year in the United States. FULL STORY

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) sent the final rule for the Unified Registration System to the White House Office of Management and Budget for review. This rule has been in the works for seven years. FULL STORY

MIT researcher Valerie Karplus is proposing that if the United States is looking to reduce fuel consumption and reducing harmful emission, then it should consider raising the gas tax that consumers pay at the pump rather than tightening efficiency standards for cars and trucks. FULL STORY


Technology Trends

 
Volvo Trucks will publicly unveil its new Worldtrucker smartphone app and website in March. It will be promoted by celebrity truck driver Lisa Kelly, who was featured on the TV series Ice Road Truckers and IRT: Deadliest Road. FULL STORY
 
Clean Energy Fuels has announced a partnership with Covanta Energy to co-develop compressed natural gas stations at Covanta facilities around the U.S. FULL STORY
 
XRS Corp has unveiled its new Road Science Lab which is designed to give customers, prospects and technology partners a hands-on experience with the company's new mobile software platform. FULL STORY


Briefly

Safety-Kleen Systems announced that Detroit Diesel has approved EcoPower Heavy-Duty Diesel 10W-30 CJ-4/SM for use in Detroit Diesel Engines. . .Kenworth Truck Company is celebrating its milestone 90th anniversary during 2013. It all began in 1923 when Harry W. Kent and Edgar K. Worthington incorporated the Gersix Motor Company as “Kenworth.” The company name was formed from a combination of letters for the founders' last names. . .J.J. Keller & Associates, Inc.  has been recognized by The Wellness Council of America (WELCOA), which recently honored the company with its highly coveted Platinum Well Workplace award. . .Hino Trucks has partnered with Morgan Corporation on a quick delivery, dry freight van body program for its conventional trucks. . .Rush Enterprises will be the primary sponsor of Tony Stewart and the No. 14 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series team of Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) for three Sprint Cup races with its Rush Truck Centers brand. . .Visual Marking Systems, Inc. (VMS)  will accept the 2013 Evolution of Manufacturing Award at the Advanced Technology Training Center at Cuyahoga Community College in February. . .Volvo Group Venture Capital has made a strategic investment in DriveCam, a global driver risk management company. Through the investment, Volvo Group becomes a minority shareholder in the company. . .Carrier Transicold recently celebrated a safety milestone at its Athens, GA plant, surpassing 5 million hours without a lost-time injury. The company has recorded zero lost-time injuries at the facility since October 2006.
   

People

Eaton Corporation has appointed Tony Truelove as marketing manager for the company's North America Truck operations. . .Double Coin Holdings Ltd. and the China Manufacturers Alliance (CMA) LLC have appointed Valentino Faraone as Double Coin Northeast Regional Sales Manager. . .Sean Otterberg has been named as a special projects manager for Auto Truck Group. . .Ryder System, Inc.  has announced that Thomas F. Pettit has joined the Supply Chain Solutions business segment as Senior Vice President and General Manager. . .Wolfgang Bernhard is going to assume the role as head of Daimler Trucks on April 1 and former chief executive Andreas Renschler is moving over to handle production and purchasing of Mercedes-Benz Passenger Cars & Mercedes-Benz Vans. . .Utility Trailer Manufacturing Company's CEO and Chairman of the Board, Paul Bennett, has been honored by the California Trucking Association (CTA). The honor recognizes Bennett's 50 plus years in the trucking industry. . .Mutsumi Miwa  is returning to Mitsubishi Fuso Truck of America's U.S. headquarters to serve as chief financial officer. . .Tom Bradley has been named president and CEO of the Arizona Trucking Association by its board of directors.

 
 

Taking $tock

A look at truck transportation-industry Fortune 500 public companies:
Company Symbol (Click for Chart) 02/27 Close Performance
Allison Transmission Holdings ALSN $22.99 $0.63 +2.82%
Avis Budget Group Inc. CAR $23.35 $0.37 +1.61%
Cummins Inc. CMI $115.77 $2.39 +2.11%
Dana DAN $16.73 $0.30 +1.83%
Eaton ETN $61.69 $2.13 +3.58%
General Electric GE $23.37 $0.32 +1.39%
Goodyear Tire & Rubber GT $12.90 $0.00   0.00%
Navistar International Corp. NAV $24.75 $0.35 +1.43%
PACCAR Inc. PCAR $47.44 $0.86 +1.85%
Ryder R $55.75 $1.63 +3.01%

SOURCE: Yahoo! Finance and bigcharts.com

 

Money Matters

Supreme Industries, Inc. has reported net income for 2012 improved to $11.8 million compared with net income of $800,000. in 2011. The company stated that gross profit increased 33.9% to $43.5 million, from 2011's $32.5 million. FULL STORY
 

Rush Enterprises, Inc. reported record annual revenues of $3.1 billion compared to $2.6 billion in 2011 and net income of $62.5 million, up 11 % over the previous year. FULL STORY


Groupe Michelin recorded net income of $2 billion on net sales of $27.6 billion last year. Its income-to-sales ratio was 7.3%, compared to 7% in 2011 which are based on the average exchange rate for 2012. FULL STORY


Dana Holding corporation reported a record net income for the full year of $300 million, compared with $219 million in the previous year. FULL STORY


News From TRALA 

Less than two weeks until TRALA's 2013 Annual Meeting, one of the largest gathering of rental and leasing executives in North America. The 2013 Annual Meeting is scheduled for March 11-14 at the Waldorf Astoria Naples in Naples, Florida. Click here to register to attend this important meeting.
 
Mack Leasing/Volvo Truck Leasing, NationaLease, and PacLease are scheduled to hold meetings in conjunction with the TRALA meeting, which will create more efficiency for attendees wanting to connect with the entire industry. To view the meetings and events scheduled for March 11 through March 14, please click here.

Any questions should be directed to TRALA's Shannon Davison at (703) 299-9120 or by email at sdavison@trala.org