EnRoute
Headlines From The Vehicle Renting and Leasing Industry
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Top Stories
Lessors continue to accommodate customers and remain flexible during the economic downturn with the most common solution is to extend contract terms. FULL STORY
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The U.S. Senate has introduced the Advanced Vehicle Technology Act of 2009 which would provide funding to help U.S. manufacturers and suppliers develop the next generation of advanced vehicles, including more fuel-efficient medium- and heavy-duty commercial trucks. FULL STORY
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In light of the recession’s effect on the truck and bus industry, the California Air and Resources Board (CARB) has directed its staff to return to the board next April with a new provision that would provide truck fleets more flexibility in cleaning up their diesel emissions under the state’s Truck and Bus Rule. FULL STORY
Technology Trends
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Continental Tire North America Inc. has added new drive and steer tires in ultra-low-profile sizes designed to allow drivers of large capacity and car-carrier trucks to handle highway travel safety while reducing their overall operating costs. FULL STORY
Briefly
Donaldson Co. has completed its facility expansion in Gurgaon, State of Haryana, India which now triples the size of the existing plant and also includes an in-house product design facility to support local OEM and aftermarket customers. . .Terra Environmental Technologies, Inc. has signed an agreement to supply diesel exhaust fluid (DEF) to Ford Motor Company. . .XATA Corp. has received $30 million in funding. . .Navistar has won a sustainability award from the Illinois Governor for its efforts to slash energy and water consumption at its Melrose Park, IL engine plant. . .SAF-Holland has launched two new regional websites supporting operations in Canada and Mexico. The new websites, www.safholland.ca and www.safholland.mx are part of an ongoing strategy by SAF-Holland to create a global network of regional specific websites. . .Kenworth Truck Company has produced the 2010 Kenworth T440/T470 Body Builder Manual to help support body builder installations on the new T440 and T470 truck models. . .Hino Trucks ranks highest in customer satisfaction for a second consecutive year according to J.D. Power and Associates 2009 Medium-Duty Truck Engine and Transmission Customer Satisfaction Survey.
People
MHC Kenworth has hired Dominick “Nick” Vermet as the company’s new Texas regional truck sales manager. . .Arnfred Kulenkampff has been named chief financial officer and vice president of IT and finance for Bendix Commercial Vehicle Systems. . .Mack Trucks has named Curtis Dorwart as its vocational marketing product manager. . .Martin Doyle has joined Double Coin Tires as the Canadian regional sales manager. . .Dr. Reiner Beutel has stepped down as chief executive officer and Member of the Board of Directors for SAF Holland and Rudi Ludwig will succeed him as CEO. . .Continental Tire North America Inc. has hired Sandy Schick as a key account aviation manager for the Commercial Vehicle Tire Division’s industrial tire unit. . .Kyle Quinn has been appointed vice president and chief information officer for PACCAR. . .FleetNet America has hired Ric Nelson as TMcare fleet manager. . .Joe Banna will be retiring as President of Hercules Manufacturing Co. at the end of 2009. Banna will be honored for his 40 years of service by being named President Emeritus of the company.
Taking $tock
A look at truck transportation-industry Fortune 500 public companies:
| Company | Symbol (Click for Chart) |
12/16 Close | Two Week Performance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Avis Budget Group Inc. | CAR | $12.54 | $0.54 | 4.50% |
| Cummins Inc. | CMI | $46.77 | $0.66 | 1.43% |
| Dana | DAN | $9.40 | $0.03 | 0.32% |
| Eaton | ETN | $65.56 | $0.07 | 0.11% |
| General Electric | GE | $15.69 | $0.06 | 0.38% |
| Goodyear Tire & Rubber | GT | $14.54 | $0.17 | 1.16% |
| Navistar International Corp. | NAV | $35.40 | $0.18 | 0.51% |
| PACCAR Inc. | PCAR | $35.31 | $0.35 | 0.98% |
| Ryder | R | $42.86 |
$0.14 | 0.33% |
SOURCE: Yahoo! Finance and bigcharts.com
Money Matters
Xata Corporation has received $30 million in funding from Technology Crossover Ventures (TCV) and Trident Capital and has purchased Turnpike Global Technologies for $20 million in cash and stock. FULL STORY
News From TRALA
TRALA's unrivaled record of success has earned the truck renting and leasing industry a strong reputation with the governments at the federal and state level. Legal Action Fund contributions allow TRALA to continue to uphold the highest standards our industry has come to expect. Please help support TRALA’s legislative and regulatory advocacy efforts and join your colleagues in making a contribution to TRALA’s 2009/2010 Legal Action Fund campaign today. Visit TRALA’s website at www.trala.org to make your contribution. Your continued support is greatly appreciated.
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