EnRoute - December 6, 2018

• By: Shannon Davison
• On: 12/06/2018 16:53:56
• In: EnRoute

TOP STORIES

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced they have begun an environmental review to reduce nitrogen oxide emissions from heavy-duty truck engines. The review effort has been labeled, "Cleaner Trucks Initiative," but agency officials have offered little detail about their plans or how long it will take to update the NOx standard. FULL STORY
 
A ruling by the California Supreme Court on carriers' use of owner-operators in the state, fleets and single-truck owners has found at least one way to circumvent the ruling and attempt to continue to do business. FULL STORY


 

TECHNOLOGY TRENDS

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has issued a request for comments on the role that vehicle maintenance plays in motor carrier safety. The responses will be included in research that will use online surveys to obtain data to address the study's objectives. FMCSA has contracted with the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute in Blacksburg to conduct the study. FULL STORY
 
International Trucks unveiled its new CV Series, a Class 4/5 truck. FULL STORY

Bridgestone Americas Inc. has added to its existing lineup of Bandag retread offerings, the Bandag BRSS, an all-position retread that is designed for fleets that work in on and off-road environments, from pavement to dirt and gravel. FULL STORY


 

BRIEFLY

PENSKE TRUCK LEASING's free mobile app, The Penske Driver App, has added new functionality for Penske Truck Leasing customers, enabling users to quickly report roadside assistance needs to the 24/7 Penske Roadside Assistance team, without ever making a call or being placed on hold. . .MORGAN TRUCK BODY, LLC and its subsidiary, MORGAN CANADA CORPORATION has announced the acquisition of Multivans, Inc. and will continue to operate as a separate entity as Morgan - Multivans Canada Corporation. . .BADGER TRUCK CENTER announced an expansion of its family of companies after acquiring substantially all of the assets of Lakeland Chevrolet in Lake Mills, WI. . .EATON plans to expand into El Paso, TX, with a factory expected to open in the first half of next year with 200 employees. . .CONTINENTAL TIRE THE AMERICAS LLC held its grand opening for the company's new Employee Training Center in Clinton, MS. The total investment for the Continental manufacturing site under development in Mississippi is $1.45 billion. The Training Center is the first completed structure in Continental's long-term growth strategy in Mississippi. . .THE VOLVO GROUP was recently named to the 2018 "Top 50 Companies for Women to Work for in Transportation" by Redefining the Road, the official magazine of the Women in Trucking Association. . .MERITOR INC. has made some enhancements to MeritorPartsXpress.com that improve search functionality for more than 100,000 aftermarket products and offer new self-service tools to help North America customers bolster their operations. . .BRIDGESTONE AMERICAS INC. plans to break ground on a three-year, $40 million expansion projects at its Warren County, TN, truck and bus radial (TBR) tire manufacturing plant by the end of 2018.


 

PEOPLE

Idealease, Inc. has hired ROB BARAN as Area Vice President, National Accounts. . .BILL HEALY has been appointed Vice President of Aftermarket for Great Dane. . .Mikey Truck Bodies has hired MARTIN SKURKA as Director of Engineering; named DEAN WELDY to the newly created position of Director of Van Body Products; and named STEVEN PROCTOR the Director of Human Resources. . .The Republication Caucus has announced that Congressman SAM GRAVES (R-MO) will lead the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee alongside incoming Chairman PETER DIFAZIO (D-OR). . .Hercules Manufacturing Company has announced the loss of retired President and President Emeritus JOE BANNA. He was 78 years old. Banna was hired by George Caddick, longtime President of Hercules, in 1969 as VP of Operations and in 1993 Banna was name President, a role in which he served until his retirement in December of 2009.

 

NUMBERS

Class 8 orders fell in November to 27,500 units, marking the end of five consecutive months exceeding 40,000 units. However, FTR says the drop was expected, as OEMs have nearly filled their order boards for 2019. FULL STORY



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