EnRoute
Headlines From The Vehicle Renting and Leasing Industry
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
Top Stories
TRALA continues to keep a watchful eye on vicarious liability court cases and state tax proposals. FULL STORY
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Enterprise Rent-A-Car and Hertz have reported they are adding hybrid and flex-fuel cars and trucks to their fleets and are also investing in alternative fuel research. FULL STORY
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In a recent funding bill, the U.S. Congress ordered the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) to provide more detailed information to the public on its plan to allow 100 Mexican for-hire carriers to cross the U.S. border. FULL STORY
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In British Columbia, it will be mandatory for heavy-duty trucks built between 1989 and 1993 to be retrofitted with special diesel filters by 2009. FULL STORY
Technology Trends
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Workhorse Custom Chassis Extended Service Coverage offers customers different levels of warranty protection for walk-in trucks using Workhorse chassis. FULL STORY
The 2008 North American Mitsubishi Fuso cabover truck line now includes a new cab for medium-duty models, new configurations on the light-duty side and new engine emissions systems with diesel particulate filters (DPFs). FULL STORY
Sterling Trucks has introduced the new class 3 Sterling 360, the lightest product in Sterling’s full range of trucks. FULL STORY
The Signal-Stat line of LED products by Truck-Lite has expanded for the third time and now has more than 40 high-diode-count lamps. FULL STORY
Arrow Truck Sales, Inc. has announced a 3-year/300,000 mile comprehensive engine warranty option on their pre-owned units. FULL STORY
Briefly
Doug Clark, president and CEO of AmeriQuest Transportation and Logistics Resources, has been named a 2007 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year award finalist in the Greater Philadelphia region. . .Under a new agreement, Fontaine Modification and Carrier Transicold, Fontaine will become the largest single installer of ComfortPro auxiliary power units for new trucks. . .Black Enterprise Magazine has named Ryder System one of the “40 Best Companies for Diversity” in its third annual survey of corporate diversity. . .Cummins CEO Tim Solso has received the 2007 American Business Award for “Best Chairman”. . .The Federal Trade Commission has announced it will not block Enterprise Rent-A-Car’s purchase of Vanguard Car Rental Holdings, LLC. . .Allison Transmission has delivered its five millionth automatic transmission, which was produced in Szengotthard, Hungary. . .PACCAR has been recognized as one of the best-performing companies by Barron’s Magazine and BusinessWeek Magazine. . .Marten Transport has ordered more than 2,000 auxiliary power units from Thermo King. . .The National Arbor Day Foundation honored Enterprise Rent-A-Car with an award for its dedication to planting trees. . .The Aftermarket Business Unit of Webb Wheel and Leland Brake & Wheel Parts have formed a strategic partnership to source and supply a full line of brake system components to the heavy-duty aftermarket. . .To read more news about TRALA members, please click here.
People on the Move
Bridgestone Firestone North American Tire LLC have promoted Bill VandeWater to director – consumer products and technologies and Nelson Miller to vice president – logistics. . .Melissa Kellogg has been named as the new director of product marketing for Freightliner Trucks. . .SAF-Holland Canada has hired Sean Scully as a sales and service representative. . .Jack LeVier has been named vice president – human resources for PACCAR. . .Key Equipment Finance has hired Stephen M. Taft as senior vice president of operations. . .The National Vehicle Leasing Association (NVLA) has elected Tarry Shebesta as president for the 2007-2008 fiscal year. . .John J. “Jack” Keller, founder and chairman emeritus of J.J. Keller & Associates, died last week at his home in the town of Clayton, WI.
Taking $tock
A look at truck transportation-industry Fortune 500 public companies:
| Company | Symbol (Click for Chart) |
06/20 Close | Two Week Performance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ArvinMeritor | ARM | $20.76 | $0.01 | 0.05% |
| Avis Budget Group Inc. | CAR | $29.80 | $0.08 | 0.27% |
| Caterpillar Inc. | CAT | $81.38 | $1.11 | 1.35% |
| Cummins Inc. | CMI | $104.00 | $2.83 | 2.80% |
| Eaton | ETN | $94.08 | $0.07 | 0.07% |
| General Electric | GE | $39.07 | $0.22 | 0.56% |
| Goodyear Tire & Rubber | GT | $34.22 | $0.32 | 0.93% |
| PACCAR Inc. | PCAR | $88.67 | $1.60 | 1.77% |
| Ryder | R | $51.97 | $0.06 | 0.12% |
SOURCE: Yahoo! Finance and bigcharts.com
Money Matters
GE Capital Solutions’ Transportation Finance unit is now offering leases, loans and other financing options for Class 4 to 7 trucks. FULL STORY
Some of Amerco’s subsidiaries have issued $303.6 million of asset-backed notes to acquire new box trucks, cargo vans and pickup trucks. FULL STORY
A recent report by PHH FirstFleet shows that 63 percent of fleet managers are putting off purchasing 2007 engines. FULL STORY
News From TRALA
"Don't forget you can order copies of TRALA's security publications, The Truck Renting and Leasing Security and Self-Assessement Guide and Safeguarding America's Transportation System - Security Guide for Truck Rental Company Employees by visiting the TRALA website and placing an order online. These publications are available at no cost to TRALA members. If you have any questions, please contact Tom James at (703) 299-9120 or tjames@trala.org