EnRoute- April 22, 2021

• By: Shannon Davison
• On: 04/22/2021 16:27:04
• In: EnRoute

TOP STORIES

A group of Senate Republicans is days away from presenting a broad counteroffer that would reduce the proposed corporate tax increases to President Joe Biden's $2.25 trillion infrastructure and jobs plan. FULL STORY
 
The California Air Resources Board has proposed the Advanced Clean Fleets rule and, if approved, it would require California public fleets to purchase 100% zero-emission trucks by the year 2027. FULL STORY
 
The Ontario Ministry of Transportation recently announced that it has extended the renewal deadlines that would have expired on or after March 1, 2020 until June 1, 2021 for commercial vehicle operators registration (CVOR), annual and semi-annual vehicle inspections and oversize/overweight annual permits. FULL STORY
 
The West Virginia Legislature has passed a bill to allow use or nonuse of seat belts as admissible evidence in civil actions, a legislative step the trucking industry has applauded. FULL STORY
 
The Truck & Engine Manufacturers Association (EMA), Cummins and the American Automaker Policy Council jointly asked the Biden administration to concentrate on helping to keep the wheels of U.S. auto and engine manufacturing turning. FULL STORY

TECHNOLOGY TRENDS

Peterbilt Motors Company recently unveiled their new Model 537 and Model 548 trucks, which are designed for the Class 7 and 8 segment. FULL STORY
 
Isuzu North America has partnered with self-driving technology company Gatik to develop fully autonomous medium-duty trucks. FULL STORY
 
The ULTIMAAX advanced severe-duty rubber suspension in the 60,000-pound capacity rating from Hendrickson Truck Commercial Vehicle Systems will be available on Miller Industries' new Century M100 Rotator. FULL STORY
 
Volvo Group has signed a collaboration agreement with steel company SSAB covering research, development, serial production and commercialization of what the auto manufacturer called the world's first vehicles to be made of fossil-free steel. FULL STORY
 
Paccar Parts released new Paccar Genuine air filters to add to its growing line of filtration products. FULL STORY

BRIEFLY

DAIMLER TRUCK and VOLVO GROUP recently completed the transaction on their joint fuel-cell company, Cellcentric, aiming to provide fuel-cell-powered CO2 neutral transportation to the trucking industry. . . VELOCITY VEHICLE GROUP (VVG) announced it has acquired Great West Truck Center in Kingman, Arizona to extend its reach to the intersection of Interstates 40 and 93, giving service to VVG's customers in the Southwest. . . DIESEL LAPTOPS will host its second annual virtual trade show which is scheduled for May 6-7, and is designed to bring professionals in the heavy-duty industry together without the limitation of location. . . CONMET has been recognized by PACCAR as a recipient of three Supplier Performance Management awards for 2020. . . BENDIX COMMERCIAL VEHICLE SYSTEMS LCC recorded its safest year in 2020, with a total case incident rate (TCIR) of recordable injuries that was far lower than the industry average and the company also reported that it has now manufactured more than 4 million units of its ADB22X line of ADBs. . . GEOTAB has launched a new GO9 Rugged solution for fleets facing harsh weather conditions and environments, which is designed to better withstand harsh conditions such as extreme temperatures, precipitation, and dirt, with the added benefit of providing the same advanced GPS technology as the traditional GO9 device. . .  HENDRICKSON TRUCK COMMERCIAL VECHILE SYSTEMS announced its STEERTEK NXT fabricated front steer axle has been selected as the standard front axle on the new Kenworth and Peterbilt medium-duty truck models. . . CORCENTRIC announced it has chosen Wolters Kluwer's eOriginal solution to help offer compliant, end-to-end electronic equipment lease finance transactions. . . PENSKE AUTOMOTIVE GROUP recently acquired Kansas City Freightliner, which is expected to generate $450 million in annualized revenue and will expand Penske's commercial vehicle subsidiary, Premier Truck Group. . . UTILITY TRAILER MANUFACTURING COMPANY announced CONMET Preset Plus® wheel end hubs as the standard base specification on all Utility trailer models. . . KENWORTH SALES COMPANY is expanding its customer reach in North Idaho with a new store in Post Falls, which will include a body shop, expanded parts inventory, new and used truck sales, service bays, and truck rental and leasing offerings. . . KARMAK has shared that it has entered into a partnership with fusionZONE, a leading provider of high-performance websites and digital marketing services to vehicle dealers. . . CONTINENTAL is celebrating its 150th year in business in 2021 since its establishment in 1871. . . DANA INCORPORATED showcased solutions for industrial transformation in the mobility sector at the 2021 Hannover Messe virtual tradeshow where the company highlighted its metallic and composite bipolar plate technology for fuel cell stacks. . . NAVISTAR recently signed an enterprise agreement with MOTOR Information Systems licensing FleetCross by MOTOR, which will enable the company and their dealers to further expand parts cross-reference capabilities leading to increased part sales and faster turn rates. . . In an effort to support customers in the western U.S. and Canada, as well as Mack's battery-electric vehicle (BEV) training efforts for the Mack® LR Electric, MACK TRUCKS announced that it is leasing space for a state-of-the-art training facility in Hayward, California. . . DAIMLER TRUCKS NORTH AMERICA and Portland General Electric have opened a new heavy-duty electric truck charging site less than a mile from Interstate 5 in Portland, Oregon, designed to accelerate the development, testing and deployment of zero-emissions commercial vehicles.

PEOPLE

BT STEADMAN of Vacuum Trucks Rentals, LLC was named TRALA's 2021-22 Chairman of the Board during its Annual Meeting. . . JERRY WOOD of Penske Logistics was recently named the Driver of the Year by TRALA during its Annual Meeting Awards Dinner. . . Rihm Leasing President BILL SCHULTZ will be retiring after 44 years of service with the company effective April 30, 2021. . . BRANDON BORGNA recently joined Mack Trucks Public Relations team as its trucks spokesperson and public relations manager. . . Daimler Trucks North America has appointed CALEY EDGERLY to the role of general manager, operations planning and quality and STEF KURSCHNER as chief financial officer. . . Murphy-Hoffman Company's FRITZ NORDMANN received Lytx, Inc.'s Driver of the Year award for his outstanding record behind the wheel of his Ford F250 delivery truck. This is the fifth consecutive year that an MHC driver has won the award. . . Corcentric has appointed ED BENACK to the role of chief customer officer, MANISH JAISWAL to the role of chief product officer and BRENT KINMAN to the role of senior vice president of North American sales.

NUMBERS

Isuzu Motors has completed the transaction to acquire Japan-based UD Trucks (formerly long known as Nissan Diesel) from the Volvo Group for approximately $2.2 billion. FULL STORY
 
Preliminary North American Class 8 net orders for March came in at 40,800 units, a record sixth consecutive month exceeding the 40,000-unit threshold, FTR reports. FULL STORY
 
While significantly more trucks are needed to handle the freight growth generated by the economic recovery and government stimulus, truck production continues to be substantially limited by shortages of semiconductors and various other components, FTR reports. FULL STORY




 

TRALA ANNOUNCEMENTS

SAVE THE DATE!
 
Thank you to all the TRALA members, speakers and special guests that joined us both virtually and in-person for TRALA's 2021 Annual Meeting. All registered attendees can access the presentations on demand for 30 days through this link.
 
Make sure to mark your calendars now for TRALA's 2022 Annual Meeting which will take place April 3-6 at the JW Marriott Miami Turnberry Resort and Spa in Aventura, Florida. More information will be available in September.