Blog

EnRoute -March 16, 2017

TRALA IN THE NEWS - The Illinois State Supreme Court has ruled against the City of Chicago, finding that their tax authority cannot extend beyond the city limits.  The case, The Hertz Corporation, et al. v. City of Chicago, focused on the city of Chicago's attempt to expand its Personal Property Lease Transaction Tax (PPLTT), to require leasing companies based in Chicago with rental locations outside of the city limits to pay the PPLTT on transactions with Chicago residents.  FULL STORY




 

TOP STORIES

Joe DeLorenzo, director of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's Office of Compliance and Enforcement, has offered some advice for fleets preparing for the December 2017 due date for using electronic logging devices. FULL STORY

U.S. Congressman Rob Goodlatte (R-VA), the Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, introduced the Fairness in Class Action Litigation Act, H.R. 985, which is to keep baseless class action suits away from innocent parties, while still keeping the doors to justice open for parties with real and legitimate claims. On March 9, the House of Representatives voted on the bill 220 to 221. FULL STORY

Transportation trade groups have sent a letter to Environmental Protection Agency Administrator, Scott Pruitt, asking to continue Diesel Emissions Reduction Act funding in the EPA's fiscal-year 2018 budget. FULL STORY   





 

TECHNOLOGY TRENDS

Daimler Trucks North America and its component brand Detroit have unveiled the new Detroit DD8 medium-duty engine which is aimed at the vocational truck market. FULL STORY

Allison Transmission is planning to introduce a new upgraded software package, FuelSense 2.0,  for its heavy-duty full-automatic gearboxes in April of this year and will feature DynActive Shifting. FULL STORY

Morgan Corporation has launched its NexGen truck bodies for dry freight and refrigerated applications.  The Morgan NexGen bodies are lighter, yet carry 400-600 lbs of increased payload than similarly-sized bodies. FULL STORY

Great Dane's PunctureGuard and ThermoGuard linings will come standard with antimicrobial protection from Microban International to help fight bacteria growth, stains and odors for the entire life of the trailer. FULL STORY




 

BRIEFLY

MACK TRUCKS is working with its partner Geotab to offer connectivity for older Mack vehicles that are not equipped with its GuardDog Connect telematics hardware, helping to maximize customer uptime. . .EATON has increased the horsepower and Gross Vehicle Weight (GVW) ratings for its line of medium-duty Procision 7-speed transmissions. . .James and Rosanne Keller, representing J.J. KELLER & ASSOCIATES, INC. have sponsored and supported the Seaveys for 11 years and this year, Mitch Seavey captured the 2017 Iditarod Alaskan Sled Dog Race title and set a new world record in the process. His son, Dallas Seavey, who finished this year's race in second place and also breaking his 2016 record. . .MORGAN CORPORATION and CellTech Metals are working together to bring the next generation of lightweight sandwich metal panels to the truck body industry. . .The CUMMINS X15 Efficiency Series diesel has won the Truck Writers of North America's 2016 Technical Achievement Award.  





 

PEOPLE

Navistar, Inc. has appointed PERSIO LISBOA from president of operations to executive vice president and chief operating officer; STEVEN COVEY is retiring as senior vice president and general counsel after 36 years with Navistar and will be replaced by CURT KRAMER.



 

TAKING STOCK

A look at truck transportation industry Fortune 500 public companies.

Company

Symbol

3/16 Close 

Performance

 

Allison Transmission Holdings

ALSN

$36.46

$0.06

-0.16%

Avis Budget Group Inc.

CAR

$34.26

$0.30

+0.88%

Cummins Inc.

CMI

$153.99

$0.36

-0.23%

Dana Incorporated

DAN

$19.86

$0.08

+0.40%

Eaton

ETN

$73.35

$0.61

-0.82%

Navistar International Corp.

NAV

$27.46

$0.14

+0.51%

PACCAR Inc.

PCAR

$68.89

$0.02

+0.03%

Ryder System, Inc.

R

75.64

$0.72

0.94%





 

NUMBERS    

ACT Research Co. has reported a 24% increase in 2017 for  U.S. trailer orders in a year-over-year comparison. FULL STORY

In the largest trucking employment surge since April 2013, the transport sector added nearly 9,000 jobs to the economy, including more than 10,000 trucking jobs. FULL STORY




 


TRALA ANNOUNCEMENTS

There is still time to register to attend TRALA's 2017 Annual Meeting. The event will be held April 2-5 at the Hyatt Regency Coconut Point in Bonita Springs, Florida.  This event is one of the largest gatherings of rental and leasing executives in North America. Click here to register for TRALA's 2017 Annual Meeting.  Please contact TRALA's Shannon Davison at sdavison@trala.org with any questions regarding the meeting.