EnRoute
Headlines From The Vehicle Renting and Leasing Industry
Wednesday, February 2, 2012
Top Stories
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The U.S. House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, chaired by Rep. John Mica (R-FL) has begun to markup The American Energy and Infrastructure Jobs Act, which the committee regards as the largest transportation reform bill since the Interstate Highway system was created in 1956. The House bill would spend $260 billion over five years and currently contains no earmarks which compared to previous surface transportation law that contained over 6,300 earmarks. FULL STORY
The California Air Resources Board (CARB) has extended the reporting date to March 30 for the Truck and Bus Regulation to give fleet owners more time to submit their fleet information. The change does not extend to particulate matter filter and other compliance requirements that began January 1, 2012. FULL STORY
Technology Trends
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Ryder System, Inc. has launched RydeSmart 3.0 which is the next generation of its onboard telematics that has been enhanced to provide greater usability and vehicle intelligence to fleet management end users. FULL STORY
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The G619 RST for spread axle trailers is a new tire developed by Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company which has been engineered to resist scrubbing and curb impact. FULL STORY
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Cummins new ISX12 heavy-duty engine has optimized calibrations and can deliver up to a 12% improvement in fuel economy over the ISX11.9 engine in some applications. Full production of the engine begins in March 2012. FULL STORY
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Allison Transmission has unveiled a new transmission, the 1350 model. The new transmission offers towing capacity of up to 30,000 lbs. and includes a park pawl, which means that no air brake is required and the driver will experience ease of use comparable to an automotive pickup truck transmission. FULL STORY
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Meritor has introduced a second-generation version of its aftermarket PlatinumShield brake shoe coating that prevents rust-jacking, the PlatinumShield II. FULL STORY
Briefly
Navistar Inc. and Clean Energy Fuels Corp. have announced a strategic partnership that will provide American truck buyers a commercially viable way to add natural gas powered trucks to their fleets without the usual and sizable upcharge on the trucks themselves and without government subsidy. . .SkyBitz announced the availability of the GLS9602 modem that works everywhere on the planet through the Iridium communications network. . .Penske Truck Leasing and Penske Logistics is expanding their workforce and industry presence by planning to hire approximately 3,300 U.S. positions and 200 positions in Canada throughout 2012. . .Hino Trucks ranks highest in customer satisfaction with conventional medium duty engines, four years in a row and ranks highest in customer satisfaction among conventional medium duty trucks, two years in a row, according to J.D. Power and Associates 2010 Medium Duty Truck Customer Satisfaction Study. . .Dana Holding Corporation has opened a new distribution center in Gyor, Hungary, marking the first step in with the company’s plans to establish a global aftermarket distribution network. . .Transportation attorneys John W. Greene and John P. Dimitry are joining the national transportation law firm of Scopelitis, Garvin, Light, Hanson & Feary as the Scopelitis firm opens a new office in Dallas/Fort Worth. . .Bendix Commercial Vehicle Systems LLC has announced the schedule for the 2012 Bendix Brake Training School, a program designed for both new and experienced technicians. Registration can be completed online at www.bendix.com. . .Kenworth now offers customers two Bluetooth capabilities choices – factory-installed radios and Kenworth NavPlus to meet the new hands-free cell phone laws.
People
JX Enterprises has appointed Dan Ryan as general manager for the company’s two newest dealerships, JX Peterbilt – Fort Wayne and JX Peterbilt – Indianapolis. . .The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company has named Christopher Curran vice president of public relations and communications for the company’s North American Tire business. . .Mitsubishi Fuso Truck of America has promoted Bill Mohr as its new vice president of service operations and Len Doherty as it new vice president of parts operations. . .James Buell has been hired as executive vice president-sales & marketing for FleetNet America. . .Bendix Commercial Vehicle Systems has promoted Mark McCollough to vice president and general manager for the company’s Charging business. . .Lenny Pusdesris has been named to the new position of vice president, Truck Engineering for PHH Arval.
Taking $tock
A look at truck transportation-industry Fortune 500 public companies:
| Company | Symbol (Click for Chart) |
02/02 Close | Performance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Avis Budget Group Inc. | CAR | $14.27 | $0.30 | 2.06% |
| Cummins Inc. | CMI | $113.31 |
$7.49 | 7.08% |
| Dana | DAN | $15.16 | $0.04 | 0.26% |
| Eaton | ETN | $49.43 | $0.49 | 1.00% |
| General Electric | GE | $19.02 | $0.28 | 1.49% | Goodyear Tire & Rubber | GT | $13.49 | $0.13 | 0.97% |
| Navistar International Corp. | NAV | $41.69 | $1.14 | 2.81% |
| PACCAR Inc. | PCAR | $43.01 | $0.11 | 0.26% |
| Ryder | R | $56.07 |
$1.02 | 1.85% |
SOURCE: Yahoo! Finance and bigcharts.com
Money Matters
Eaton Corporation’s truck segment saw significant year-over-year growth with posted sales of $680 million in the fourth quarter of 2011, up 31% compared to 2010. FULL STORY
PACCAR reported earning $327.7 million for the fourth quarter of 2011, a 93% increase compared to $169.8 million in the fourth quarter of 2010. The company also reported fourth quarter net sales and financial service revenues were a record $4.85 billion, up 58% compared to $3.06 billion reported for the comparable period in 2010. FULL STORY
Ryder System, Inc. has reported total revenue for the fourth quarter of 2011 was $1.54 billion, up 17% from $1.31 billion in the same period in the prior year, reflecting the benefit of acquisitions, organic growth and fuel services. FULL STORY
News From TRALA
Attend TRALA’s 2012 Annual Meeting
You don't want to miss out on attending one of the largest gathering of rental and leasing executives in North America. The 2012 Annual Meeting is scheduled for March 12-15 at the St. Regis Resort in Dana Point, California. Click here to register to attend this important meeting.
NationaLease, Mack Leasing/Volvo Truck Leasing and PacLease are scheduled to hold meetings in conjunction with the TRALA meeting, which will create more efficiencies for attendees wanting to connect with the entire industry. To view the meetings and events scheduled for March 12 through March 15, please click here.
If you have already registered and need to secure a hotel reservation, please contact TRALA’s Shannon Davison at sdavison@trala.org or Leslie Hummel at lhummel@trala.org.
Look forward to seeing everyone in March.