Blog

EnRoute - January 14, 2015



Top Stories

A coalition representing an array of industry sectors and businesses, including TRALA filed suit in the U.S District Court of the District of Columbia to stop the National Labor Relations Board from moving forward with plans to speed up the time for union representation elections by workers and labor unions. FULL STORY

 

Penske Logistics has filed a petition seeking to have the United States Supreme Court review the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals decision in the matter of Dilts et al v. Penske Logistics and Penske Truck Leasing Co., L.P. TRALA has agreed to file an amicus brief in support of Penske in this case.  The case focuses on whether a long-standing federal transportation law that seeks to promote lower rates and better service by ensuring that rates and services are determined by competitive market forces rather than a patchwork of varying state laws preempts California's state laws requiring mandatory meal and rest breaks. FULL STORY
 

 The U.S. Department of Transnportation (USDOT) has said that Mexican motor carriers will soon be able to apply for authority to conduct long-haul, cross-border trucking services in the United States. FULL STORY

 

 
 

Technology Trends

 

Bridgestone Commercial has released a new line of Dayton commercial truck tires that features eight new patterns, effectively doubling the product coverage of the former lineup. FULL STORY

 

Dana has introduced a new line of Spicer axle shafts for use with larger tires.  The Spicer chromoly shafts are manufactured using SAE-4340 nickel chromoly steel for maximum strength and durability. FULL STORY

 
  


Briefly

The National Highway Transportation and Safety Administration (NHTSA) officially notified CMA and Double Coin Holdings that Double Coin Tires missing a load rating sidewall marking are not a threat to vehicle safety. NHTSA said there was no additional obligation for providing a remedy or notification to the problem. . .Allison Tranmission Holdings Inc. announced that it has entered into a cooperation agreement with ValueAct Capital, a $15 billion private investment fund that beneficially owns approximately 10.77% of Allison Transmission's outstanding common stock.  ValueAct Capital is the company's largest single shareholder. . .Hendrickson  has completed purchase of Frauenthal's heavy-duty leaf spring and stabilizer segment, along with a number of their subsidiaries in Europe from the Frauenthal Group. . .Bridgestone Americas broke ground on the company's new 30-story, $200 million headquarters in downtown Nashville, TN.  The building is set to be completed in mid to late 2017. . .PacLease has unveiled a new website, www.PacLease.com, which provides full information on PacLease's full-service leasing, rental and contract maintenance programs. . .Mckinney Trailer Rentals has extended its partnership with SmartTruck to retrofit its rental trailers with the UT-1 Trailer UnderTray system. . .Auto Truck Group is opening a new manufacturing facility in St. Louis, MO.  Shipping of vehicles from the facility began on January 5, 2015. . .James and Rosanne Keller, representating J.J. Keller & Associates, Inc. are continuing their support of Dallas Seavey as his title sponsor in the 2015 Iditarod.

 

 

 

 

People 

The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company has named John T. Lucas the company's senior vice president and chief human resources officer effective February 25, 2015. He will succeed Joseph Ruocco who announced his retirement last year. . .Christine Dossey and Ryan Adam have both accepted positions of Area Sales Representatives for Maxon Lift Corp. . .Inland Truck Parts has named Greg Klein president of the company. . .Visual Marking Systems, Inc. has announced the appointment of James Weaver to vice president of sales and global markets. . .Steve Sensing has been appointed president of Global Supply Chain Solutions for Ryder System, Inc. . .Dana Holding Corporation's current president and CEO, Roger Wood, has announced that he will retire in April 2016.

 

  

Taking $tock

A look at truck transportation-industry Fortune 500 public companies:

Company Symbol (Click for Chart) 01/14 Close Performance
Allison Transmission Holdings ALSN $32.00 $0.36 -1.11%
Avis Budget Group Inc. CAR $63.09 $1.34 -2.07%
Cummins Inc. CMI $142.40 $1.06 +0.75%
Dana Holding Corp. DAN $20.49 $0.5 -2.38%
Eaton Corp. ETN $64.24 $1.22 -1.86%
General Electric GE $23.78 $0.08 -0.34%
Goodyear Tire & Rubber GT $25.43 $0.62  -2.38%
Navistar International Corp. NAV $31.73 $0.38 +1.21%
PACCAR Inc. PCAR $64.75 $0.61 -0.93%
Ryder R $87.56 $0.93 -1.05%

SOURCE: Yahoo! Finance

 

 

Money Matter$

Economists say the economy is doing well with the broadest measure of the economy's health, the nation's gross domestic product, increased at the annual rate of 5% in the third quarter of the year, the strongest showing since 2003. FULL STORY

 

AB Volvo has completed the purchase of 45% of Chinese automotive manufacturer Dongfeng Commercial Vehicles for approximately $884 million.  The acquisition includes most of Dongfeng's operations in heavy-duty and medium-duty commercial vehicles. FULL STORY

 
 

News From TRALA 

 

Registration Today for TRALA's 2015 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 2015 Annual Meeting is scheduled for March 15-19 at the Omni Amelia Island Plantation Resort in Amelia Island, 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 efficiencies for attendees wanting to connect with the entire industry.  To view the meetings and events scheduled for March 15 through March 19, please click here.

 Hotel reservations for the Annual Meeting will only be accepted through the Annual Meeting registration form or by contacting TRALA's Shannon Davison. The information provided in the registration form will be submitted to the hotel on your behalf. No credit cards are required to guarantee your reservation at this time. Hotel confirmation numbers will be forwarded to all guests by a member of the TRALA staff as quickly as possible.

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