EnRoute
Headlines From The Vehicle Renting and Leasing Industry
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Top Stories
The trucking industry deserves high marks for continuing to improve efficiency and reduce emissions. FULL STORY
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Advances in technology are continuing at an accelerated pace and salespeople need to position themselves as knowledge experts on these technologies and their impact on fleet customers. FULL STORY
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Refurbished trailers have become an attractive alternative to new models in the United Kingdom with orders up 50 percent. FULL STORY
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Preventative maintenance programs are more important than ever and are one of the only ways to identify small problems before they become major service disruptions. FULL STORY
Technology Trends
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PHH Arval has launched a new mobile application which is installed on drivers’ Blackberry devices and allows drivers to have immediate access to various PHH services and call centers, including help with accidents, maintenance and other transactions. FULL STORY
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Fleets and drivers that are considering whether retrofitting existing equipment makes sense should be aware of the National Clean Diesel Funding Assistance Program. The program operated through the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is awarding $300 million for projects to reduce diesel emissions, including retrofit devices, engine upgrade certified engine repowering and other measures. FULL STORY
Briefly
The Michelin Challenge Education Program is a new program from Michelin North America Inc. that will provide assistance to public elementary schools in communities where Michelin has facilities. . .PACCAR Customer Center celebrates 10 years of rapid roadside assistance through Kenworth PremierCare, Peterbilt TruckCare and PacLease PacCentral roadside assistance services. . .The Procter & Gamble Company has selected Ryder System to manage a component of its U.S./Mexico Logistics Network, including cross-border transportation operations. . .Freightliner Trucks “Slice of Life” blog in which three truckers describe their experiences driving the Cascadia has been extended. To read about their experiences, visit www.SliceofTruckerLife.com. . .Hino Trucks held its first-ever National Service Skills Competition at its training facility in Novi, MI. Greg Zubek of Chicago Mack Sales and Services in Summit, IL was the overall winner. . .Mack Trucks has received an order for 18 more of its Vision Elite model tractors from the U.S. Army TACOM Life Cycle Management Command.
People
Dwayne Cowan has been named APU (auxiliary power unit) product manager for Thermo King. . .Continental Tire North America Inc. (CTNA) has named Mike Leigner as regional sales manager for CTNA’s southern region of the U.S.; Scott Pall has been named district sales manager for the northern region of the U.S.; and Adam Willis has been named district sales manager for the midwestern region.
Taking $tock
A look at truck transportation-industry Fortune 500 public companies:
| Company | Symbol (Click for Chart) |
8/19 Close | Two Week Performance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Avis Budget Group Inc. | CAR | $10.08 | $0.16 | 1.61% |
| Cummins Inc. | CMI | $44.48 | $0.26 | 0.58% |
| Dana | DAN | $5.13 | $0.51 | 11.04% |
| Eaton | ETN | $53.40 | $0.11 | 0.21% |
| General Electric | GE | $13.53 | $0.06 | 0.44% |
| Goodyear Tire & Rubber | GT | $17.86 | $0.07 | 0.39% |
| Navistar International Corp. | NAV | $44.24 | $0.02 | 0.05% |
| PACCAR Inc. | PCAR | $35.30 | $0.14 | 0.40% |
| Ryder | R | $38.78 |
$0.89 | 2.35% |
SOURCE: Yahoo! Finance and bigcharts.com
Money Matters
Eaton Corporation will support a $45.4 million grant to produce plug-in hybrid electric power systems for 378 vehicles. The grant money will be awarded by the U.S. Energy Department as part of a $2.4 billion grant package in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. FULL STORY
Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group reported net income of $12.4 million for the second quarter of 2009 compared to $10.8 million for the comparable 2008 quarter. FULL STORY
The Term Asset-Backed Securities Load Facility (TALF) was set to expire on December 31, 2009, however The Federal Reserve and the U.S. Treasury Department have approved an extension to March 31, 2010 for newly issued ABS and legacy CMBS and June 30, 2010 for newly issued CMBS. FULL STORY