CALEDONIA, Ont. -- Scotlynn Commodities has provided KRTS Transportation Specialists with a late model Peterbilt tractor and reefer trailer to be used to train the next generation of professional drivers.
The carrier was the first to be named a KRTS Preferred Partner, according to the company.
“The Scotlynn team believes that supplying state of the art equipment for KRTS students to be educated on will help lead them to Scotlynn upon graduation,” KRTS announced in a release. “Scotlynn staff also visit the KRTS campus to meet new students and discuss the opportunities available at the long-haul carrier. Once a month, KRTS students tour the beautiful Scotlynn facility in Vittoria and meet some of the other members of their team.”
KRTS also has been charged with the training of Scotlynn’s driver trainers.
Scotlynn hopes to mould some of these new professional drivers into owner/operators, by assisting with the financing of their trucks. Scotlynn has an on-site Peterbilt dealership to expedite the service and parts supply for the O/O, reducing downtime.
Next, Scotlynn plans to develop an apprenticeship program for new hires.
“Scotlynn is in our neck of the woods, and we have known about them for years, but we had never had the opportunity to do business with them. I was very surprised by the synergy between our companies – once we sat down together, it did not take long to come up with a plan,” said KRTS president Kim Richardson.
“We have been very pleased to join in this partnership with KRTS,” added Scotlynn president Scott Biddle. “With their excellent reputation, we knew we would have the opportunity to hire some of the best trained drivers around. Supplying equipment for them to use was an easy decision for us, considering the return we stand to gain on the investment.”
WASHINGTON — Federal safety officials missed or ignored warning signs before four deadly crashes involving heavy trucks or intercity buses in the last year, the National Transportation Safety Board said on Thursday. The government shut down some of the companies, but only after a total of 25 people were killed and 83 injured in the four accidents.
Susan Walsh/Associated Press
Deborah A. P. Hersman, the chairwoman of the National Transportation Safety Board, in Washington on Thursday.
Highway travel by car keeps getting safer, and the rate of heavy truck crashes has decreased, but statistics do not show a decrease in the number of bus fatalities. While the Transportation Department calculates the number of fatal accidents per 100 million miles driven for cars and trucks, it does not do the same calculation for intercity buses, because it does not have mileage figures available for them, a spokesman said.
The board, an independent federal agency, said the four accidents raised “serious questions about the oversight of motor carrier operations” by the Transportation Department.
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, the Transportation Department agency that regulates commercial truck and bus safety, did not dispute any of the safety board’s assertions. But Anne S. Ferro, the administrator of the agency, said that it had shut down “well over 100” unsafe bus and truck operators since 2010, compared with only about one a year from 2000 to 2009, and that the agency began a comprehensive review of its own operations two years ago.
Ms. Ferro also said that her agency had about 350 inspectors to cover 10,000 bus companies and more than half a million trucking firms.
In the most recent of the four crashes cited by the safety board, in Murfreesboro, Tenn., on June 13, a truck operated by H&O Transport hit eight other vehicles that had slowed down because of an accident. It was dry and clear, but the truck rear-ended a 1999 Oldsmobile Alero, which erupted in a fireball. Two people in the car were killed; six people in other vehicles were injured.
The truck was speeding and on cruise control, and the driver had worked more than 10 hours beyond the 70 hours drivers are allowed to work over eight consecutive days. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration knew that the driver had a history of “hours-of-service” violations, and that the company had a history of such schedule violations, the safety board said. But the administration’s last inspection before the crash had been limited, the board said.
In another accident, a Mexican-owned bus descending a mountain road in the San Bernardino National Forest in California rear-ended a car, crossed into the opposite lane, struck an embankment and overturned, colliding with a pickup truck towing a trailer. Seven bus passengers and the driver of the pickup were killed; the bus driver and 11 passengers were seriously injured.
The bus had “numerous mechanical problems,” the board said, including that all six brakes were defective.
A month earlier, federal inspectors learned of maintenance problems at the bus line through roadside spot-checks. The Motor Carrier Safety Administration said it had conducted a review and found that the line’s performance was “satisfactory,” but it did not inspect any buses, the safety board said, or review many business records, because the company was in Tijuana. After the crash, the Transportation Department ordered the bus line, Scapadas Magicas, off the road.
The safety board, which has no regulatory authority, unanimously recommended more vigorous audits and follow-ups. “They need to crack down before crashes occur, not just after high-visibility events,” the board chairwoman, Deborah A. P. Hersman, said in a statement.
Jump to navigation JOC Staff | Mar 14, 2013 3:05PM EDT
Vic Toews, Canada’s minister of public safety, and Janet Napolitano, U.S. secretary of homeland security, have signed a memorandum of understanding that paves the way for a U.S. Customs and Border Protection truck cargo pre-inspection pilot project in Canada.
The deal was signed in Washington at their biannual meeting. It is a commitment made as part of the Beyond the Border Action Plan.
Canadian and U.S. officials will work together to finalize the details to implement the pilot. It will be carried out in two phases. The first phase will test the concept of conducting Customs primary cargo inspection in Canada, and the second phase will further test how pre-inspection could enhance border efficiency and reduce wait times to facilitate trade.
The road freight market in Europe was “subdued” from November 2012 to January 2013, according to the Freightex European Road Freight Rate Index compiled by Transport Intelligence.
The market experienced “short bursts of volatility” during that period, driven primarily by the European recession. The index, which identifies price fluctuations, rose from a low of 113.0 points in November to a high of 117.8 on Jan. 1. Through January, however, the index saw declines. Comparatively, the index rose 8 points over the same three-month period in the previous year.
Overall, prices are about the same as last year, although this year’s high of 117.8 was an increase from last year’s 116 points. Conversely, 2012’s rise in rates during the Christmas season was “much less dramatic than normal.”
Logistics veterans John Labrie and Sean Devine have launched buytruckload.com, a new Chicago-based service in the transportation procurement space, initially offering a search to help shippers find prospective carriers and a survey to improve internal processes.
The carrier search leverages a database of every carrier and broker in the U.S. and supports search by equipment, size, location, age, safety, authority and more. Registration for the site is free.
Before founding buytruckload.com, Labrie was president of CRST Expedite, president of Con-way Freight, executive vice president of strategy and enterprise operations at Con-way and president of Con-way Freight Western.
Devine was previously vice president of strategy and transportation purchasing at Echo Global Logistics, vice president of pricing and engineering at Con-way Freight, vice president of enterprise engineering at Con-way, vice president of consulting at Emptoris (now IBM) and vice president of products and services at CombinetNet.
The turnover rate for drivers in the truckload sector took a “surprising dip” in the fourth quarter of 2012, probably driven by a weakened economy and overall freight volumes, according to the American Trucking Associations’ Trucking Activity Report.
Turnover at large truckload carriers fell from an annualized rate of 104 percent in the third quarter of 2012 to 90 percent in the fourth quarter, while turnover at smaller truckload fleets dropped from 94 percent in the previous quarter to 76 percent.
For the full year of 2012, turnover at large carriers averaged 98 percent, while turnover at smaller carriers averaged 82 percent. Both turnovers were the highest averages since 2007.
“As freight volumes slid a bit at the end of 2012, we saw turnover follow suit,” said Bob Costello, ATA chief economist, in a written statement. He claimed that as it stands now, the trucking industry is still short between 20,000 and 25,000 drivers, a figure he said that will increase as the freight economy accelerates.
“Once we see steadier, more robust economic growth, we could see the industry that is short by as many as 239,000 drivers by 2022,” Costello said.
Sales of used Class 8 trucks dropped 3 percent year-over-year in January and were down 6 percent from December, according to ACT Research.
"It is now a buyer's market," said Steve Tam, vice president for the commercial vehicle sector at Columbus, Ind.-based ACT Research.
"While one data point does not make a trend, longer term softness is in line with expectations, as new truck buyers have held onto their equipment longer before trading," he said.
"The net effect is older, higher mileage (used) trucks (for sale), which translates into lower prices," said Tam.
Auction and retail used truck sales dropped 11 percent in 2012, according to the vehicle market research firm, while the wholesale market increased volume 3 percent.
Orders for new heavy-duty trucks rose for a second straight month in January and remained above 20,000 for the fourth consecutive month, according to ACT.
Groupe Eurotunnel more than tripled its profit in 2012 as it transported a record number of trucks through its subsea rail link between the U.K. and France.
Net income grew to 34 million euros ($43.9 million) from 11 million euros ($14.2 million) in 2011 as revenue jumped 16 percent to 1 billion euros ($1.29 billion) as the London Olympics boosted passenger numbers to almost 20 million.
The Anglo French group earned $595 million before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization, an increase of 10 percent on the previous year.
The number of trucks transported on shuttle trains increased 16 percent to 1.46 million, boosting the tunnel’s U.K.-France market share by 5 percentage points to a record 43.5 percent.
The truck market, which is also served by ferries, grew an estimated 2.5 percent in 2012, but remains about 10 percent below the pre-recession peak in 2007.
The number of freight trains traveling through the 30-mile-long tunnel declined 3 percent, and tonnage was 7 percent lower at 1.23 million tons, reflecting the decision of SNCF, France’s state-owned railway, to cease its cross-channel wagon load business.
Europorte, the group’s rail freight unit, boosted its revenue, however, by 28 percent, to $270 million and made a modest $3.9 million profit compared with a year-earlier loss of $1 million.
Eurotunnel is awaiting a final ruling from U.K. regulators, due in mid-April, on its $84 million acquisition of three ships owned by SNCF’s bankrupt shipping unit Sea France, which it is now deploying in a new shipping line, MyFerryLink.
In an interim ruling, U.K. regulators said Eurotunnel’s entry into the shipping market would push up freight and passenger fares, particularly if the extra capacity forced another ferry line to quit the cross-channel route.
This has put U.K. regulators on a collision course with their French counterparts who approved the acquisition on condition that Eurotunnel does not cross-market cargo services on rail and ships for five years.
A timely indicator of market fluctuations in per-mile truckload pricing isolating the linehaul component of full truckload costs from other components (fuel and accessorials), providing a reflection of trends in baseline truckload prices.
TOOELE, Utah -- One man’s trash is another’s treasure, particularly if that other man is in the business of hauling trash away to landfill sites and recycling depots.
Or, for that matter, in the business of selling and servicing refuse trucks. With that in mind, Navistar International has barged into the refuse truck market with the impending launch of its new low cab forward LoadStar. Constructed of stainless steel, the LoadStar has been designed to better withstand the highly corrosive and punishing refuse truck environment and it also boasts a number of driver-friendly features that will make it popular with operators.
More importantly, however, Navistar has recently acquired refuse body manufacturer E-Z Pack with an eye to completely changing the way refuse trucks are sold and serviced. Currently, waste collection companies tend to buy trucks and bodies separately, and then must have any problems attended to by either the truck or body dealer.
This arrangement often results in finger pointing, a shirking of responsibility and for the operator, increased downtime and frustration. Through its acquisition of E-Z Pack, announced earlier this year and to be consummated in February, International will now be able to sell a fully integrated refuse truck with body and then provide one-stop parts and service shopping for customers. E-Z Pack wins too, thanks to instant access to International’s expansive dealer network.
Jim Rogers, vice-president of sales and marketing with E-Z Pack, said the partnership will revolutionize the refuse truck industry.
“From this day forward, we’re changing the business model in North America,” Rogers said. “We’re going to integrate the body and the chassis together, provide one-stop shopping for our customers and they’ll have service like they’ve never seen before.”
Previously, Rogers said, the relationship between body builder and truck manufacturer was practically non-existent.
“The only time we’d talk to each other is when we get into a finger pointing exercise and the poor customer is sitting in the middle saying ‘I just want my truck to run’,” Rogers admitted.
There are other benefits to the new marriage as well. Installation of the E-Z Pack body onto an International LoadStar chassis will be simplified thanks to International’s Diamond Logic electrical system. The truck and body will each have a wiring harness designed to plug into each other, providing a plug-and-play solution that Rogers said could slash in half the typical mounting time of 60-80 hours.
Navistar’s highly regarded Diamond Logic wiring system will also allow the chassis and body to communicate more effectively, providing benefits such as the ability to notify operators when a light is out on the body via a message displayed inside the cab. The partnership is also great news for International dealers. Refuse trucks typically cost $20,000-$25,000 per year to maintain, providing a new revenue stream for dealers.
E-Z Pack, based in Lexington, Ky., currently owns about 7% of the refuse truck body market and manufactures a variety of rear, side and front loaders. When the acquisition is concluded, the body will still be offered on other truck makes while Navistar will offer alternative bodies as well on its LoadStar.
Driving the LoadStar
As for the LoadStar, it is sure to earn plenty of attention among refuse truck owners and operators, which tend to be a 63-37% split between private collection companies and municipalities, respectively.
I recently had the opportunity to drive a Mack TerraPro, Autocar ACX-64 and Peterbilt 320 as well as the new LoadStar on a makeshift course at Miller Motorsports Park near Salt Lake City. The LoadStar was a dual drive configuration (left hand, right hand and right stand-up drive configurations will also be offered), and was fitted with a 40-yard E-Z Pack front loader.
At this point, there’s little I can say about the performance of the LoadStar, since the truck I drove was a prototype and as such, still had some wrinkles that will be ironed out before production commences. The fan was constantly on, giving no real sense of interior noise and the steering was stiff, again a byproduct of its prototype status.
What I can attest to, however, is its operator-friendly interior and ease of entry and egress. The 16-inch offset step height allowed me to climb easily into the cab through a large door with a 90-degree-plus opening. Well-positioned grab handles made climbing in and out a piece of cake, which will be a luxury for single operators when applicable. In contrast, climbing in and out of the Pete 320 took some athleticism that not all trash truck operators possess. The Mack and Autocar fell somewhere in between.
Once inside the cab, I immediately appreciated the large, flat floor area, which is unencumbered by steering wheel or floor-mounted pedals.
The view from the cab is phenomenal, thanks to a 3,000 sq.-in. windshield, the largest in the class. The Mack TerraPro provides slightly better forward visibility, but overall, the LoadStar offers an impressive field of vision. It also boasts a tight 40-degree wheel cut, so operators can safely navigate a cul de sac without having to put the truck into reverse. Nothing good can come from reversing a trash truck in a residential neighbourhood.
LED lighting, which lasts 10 times longer than incandescent bulbs, is standard inside and out of the cab.
It was a warm day in Utah when I drove the LoadStar, so I appreciated that the air-conditioning was highly effective, thanks to the truck’s industry-leading 14 vents.
The LoadStar is the only trash truck to offer tilt and telescopic steering and it boasts a spacious, 92-inch wide cab. Power locks and windows are available - not to spoil drivers, but to provide a flat door panel and reduce the likelihood of operators’ coveralls getting caught as they climb in and out of the cab.
The cab itself may be the LoadStar’s strongest attribute; it’s made of 4100 stainless steel.
“The biggest thing about stainless steel is that it’s almost immune to perforation,” said Steve Gilligan, vice-president, vocational marketing with Navistar. “If you scratch it, it’s not going to continue to perforate like some of the other materials.”
Stainless steel is 40% stronger than galvanized steel and 62% stronger than aluminum, Gilligan claimed. Owners will need to be mindful that it requires a self-etching primer when paint repairs are necessary.
Interestingly, when the LoadStar is first launched in July 2013, the only power option will be the Cummins ISL G natural gas engine. Diesel offerings will follow four to six months later. Gilligan said Navistar’s transition to selective catalytic reduction (SCR) technology within its own engine line threatened to delay the rollout of the LoadStar, and since up to 50% of the refuse truck market will soon be powered by natural gas, the company opted to introduce its NG version first.
Currently, one in four refuse trucks are powered by compressed natural gas, E-Z Pack’s Rogers noted, and that’s expected to climb to 33% next year and 50% by 2015.
“We originally planned to launch with the MaxxForce 9, 10 and 11,” Gilligan explained. “We changed our engine strategy and moved into the SCR realm and we didn’t want to delay this program. Our customers started telling us they’re looking at natural gas harder every year. We didn’t want to slow down the launch of this truck.”
The low cabover engine (LCOE) refuse truck market is relatively small, with just 30,000 such trucks sold in North America over the past five years. The segment leader is Mack, followed by Autocar and then Peterbilt. With its partnership with E-Z Pack and rugged, driver-oriented design, International hopes its LoadStar will be one of the front-runners in this segment in the years ahead. The truck itself is very well designed and the benefits of complete integration between the chassis and body are difficult to ignore. Add to that the comfort most International dealers have with bidding on municipal tenders and it’s easier to understand why the company is so enthusiastic about jumping into a relatively small market segment.
Ron Huibers, Volvo Trucks’ president of sales and marketing in North America, is leaving the truck-making unit to become president of Volvo Penta Americas, which makes boat engines.
A replacement for Huibers at Volvo Trucks is expected to be named during the fall, a company spokesman said. Huibers became president of sales and marketing on Jan. 1.
Separately, Volvo said it will launch new versions of its Volvo FH and Volvo FH16 heavy-duty trucks in Europe on Sept. 5. The truck will use a new independent front suspension system.
Volvo Trucks spokesman Brandon Borgna said the new suspension system will not be available on trucks sold in North America.
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- US for-hire truck tonnage was flat in July, but up 4.1% compared to last July, marking the best year-over-year gain since February 2012.
Year-to-date, tonnage is up 3.7% compared to 2011, according to the American Trucking Associations.
“July’s reading reflects an economy that has lost some steam, but hasn’t stalled,” ATA chief economist Bob Costello said. “Certainly there has been some better economic news recently, but I continue to believe we will see some deceleration in tonnage during the second half of the year, if for nothing else but very tough comparisons on a robust August through December period in 2011.”
Costello added he expects the slowdown in new factory orders will constrain manufacturing output, which will impact truck freight volumes. He’s also concerned about the recent jump in the total business (manufacturing, wholesale, and retail) inventory-to-sales ratio. “Unintended gains in inventories will hit trucking negatively as the supply chain works off stocks,” Costello said.
He kept his tonnage outlook for 2012 to the 3-3.5% range as reported last month.
This story appears in the Aug. 20 print edition of Transport Topics. Click here to subscribe today.
U.S. retail medium-duty truck sales totaled 12,483 vehicles in July, a 15.8% improvement over the 10,779 sold a year earlier, WardsAuto.com reported.
Although all three major weight groups showed monthly gains, there were some reports of slowness.
See related story: Heavy-Duty Truck Sales Rise 27.4% in July (TT subscription or 14-day pass required.)
Classes 4-7 sales — as tracked by Ward’s, Southfield, Mich. — have been increasing since December 2009 but at a slower pace than heavy-duty commercial trucks.
“We were flat in July, hitting a soft patch, but we did much better in the first half through June,” said David Yglesias, whose Palmetto Truck Center sells Fords and specialty commercial vehicles.
Truck tonnage increased 4.1 % in July from a year ago, American Trucking Associations said Tuesday.
Tonnage was unchanged from June, ATA reported in its seasonally adjusted for-hire truck tonnage report.
The increase was the most year-over-year since February’s 5.5% upturn. Year to date, tonnage is 3.7% higher than the same period last year.
The not seasonally adjusted index, which represents tonnage actually hauled by fleets, came in at a reading of 119.4, down 2.8% from June. ATA uses the year 2000 as a 100-reading baseline.
“July’s reading reflects an economy that has lost some steam, but hasn’t stalled,” ATA Chief Economist Bob Costello said in a statement.
“Certainly there has been some better economic news recently, but I continue to believe we will see some deceleration in tonnage during the second half of the year,” he added, noting a strong run of tonnage in the comparative August-to-December period last year.
Truck and trailer parts supplier FleetPride Inc. , said it has acquired Great Lakes Truck & Trailer, Westlake, Mich., for an undisclosed sum.
FleetPride said the deal gives it a fourth location in the Detroit area and ninth in the state of Michigan.
“The greater Detroit area is a dense market for heavy-duty truck and trailer business,” Lee Stockseth, FleetPride’s president and chief operating officer, said in a statement. “Adding another location here allows for deeper representation.”
Drivers of large trucks made up the smallest percentage of alcohol-impaired drivers involved in fatal crashes in 2010, according to recently released data by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
According to the report, 3% of fatal crashes involved drivers in large trucks with a blood-alcohol content above zero, and 2% were caused by drivers with BACs above the U.S. legal limit of .08.
Most drunk drivers causing fatal crashes in the United States have consumed about twice as much alcohol as laws allow, the top U.S. auto-safety regulator said.
More than 70% of deaths in crashes involving drunk drivers in 2010 involved a driver with blood-alcohol content of .15 or higher, NHTSA said.
In 2010, 10,228 people died in the U.S. in alcohol-related accidents, meaning there was one such death every 51 minutes, according to NHTSA.
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has estimated about 7,000 lives could be saved annually in the U.S. if no one drove with a blood-alcohol content higher than .08., Bloomberg reported.
ARLINGTON, Va. -- US for-hire truck tonnage increased 1.2% in June after falling 1.0% in May, according to a report from the American Trucking Associations. (May’s loss was larger than the 0.7% drop ATA reported on June 19.) June’s increase was the largest month-to-month gain in 2012. However, the seasonally-adjusted index contracted a total of 2.1% in April and May. Compared with June 2011, the index was 3.2% higher, the smallest year-over-year increase since March. Year-to-date, compared with the same period last year, tonnage was up 3.7%.
The not seasonally adjusted index, which represents the change in tonnage actually hauled by the fleets before any seasonal adjustment, was 0.9% below the previous month.
For the second quarter, the seasonally-adjusted index was off 0.8% from the previous quarter, which was the first decrease in a year. Compared with the second quarter in 2011, the index was up 3.5%.
“June’s increase was a pleasant surprise, but the lower year-over-year gain fits with an economy that has slowed,” said ATA chief economist Bob Costello. “Manufacturing output was strong in June, which helped tonnage levels.”
Costello said he’s still concerned about businesses sitting on cash instead of hiring more workers or spending it on capital, both of which would give the economy and tonnage a shot in the arm, as they are worried about Europe and the so-called US “fiscal cliff” at the end of the year. Costello lowered his tonnage outlook for 2012 to the 3-3.5% range due to recent economic weakness.
COLUMBUS, Ind. -- US used truck sales grew 8% in June over May, but lagged June 2011 and the first six months of 2011, while pricing appears to be slowing a little more rapidly than was previously expected, according to the latest report from ACT Research.
“While June’s sales appear positive at face value, concerns are now surfacing, especially relative to the amount of inventory on hand and the prices at which those units were acquired,” reported Steve Tam, vice-president, commercial vehicle sector, with ACT.
Concerning pricing, he added, “The slowdown is not necessarily permanent, nor irreversible, but is a reflection of current economic conditions. Flat demand for more units started the ball rolling. Higher prices have led to changes in financing, which are making transactions more expensive and preventing some potential buyers from making purchases. The solution lies in increased economic activity, which is expected, but at a measured pace.”
Meanwhile, recent softness in trailer industry orders continued in June, a further reflection of the recent soft patch in commercial vehicle demand, according to ACT officials. Despite the decline from May, order volume was up almost 4% year-over-year.
“Total production grew 3% for the month, but jumped 8% on a per-day basis, as June schedules had one less workday than May,” said Frank Maly, director, CV transportation, with ACT Research.
“Soft orders combined with increased production to shrink industry backlogs by 7% during June. The industry ended the month with backlogs of just over 104k units. The industry typically works off backlog throughout the late spring and summer months, so that decline was anticipated,” he added.
SAN DIEGO, Calif. -- Navigation systems manufacturer TomTom has launched the newest version of its Logistics map product designed specifically for truck and fleet operators.“TomTom Logistics enables a safer and more efficient operation of fleet vehicles and powers solutions that demand highly accurate and detailed content,” says Eszter Pattantyus, vice-president of maps. “By leveraging this precise data, TomTom can help operators of large vehicles avoid striking a low bridge or accruing a large fine for carrying an oversized load.”The TomTom Logistics product features include:• Dimensional restrictions totalling more than 1.6 million miles in the US and 225,000 miles in Canada;• Designated truck routes for more than 400,000 miles in the US and 60,000 miles in Canada;• Operating bans on idling or jake brake usage totalling more than 180,000 miles in the US and 80,000 miles in Canada; and• Critical last-mile content required to get drivers to their final destination.TomTom’s product is enabled by ProMiles, which provides context in interpreting and applying truck restrictions. The TomTom Logistics product appends to the standard map product and can be merged with other TomTom enhancement products to enable truck-relevant POI content as well as warnings for curves or steep grades, the company said.
COLUMBUS, Ind. -- Class 8 commercial vehicle preliminary net orders remained soft in June, according to reports from ACT Research. Classes 5-7 net orders also fell below trend, but the decline was expected, ACT officials said, as medium-duty activity typically tapers off during the summer months. The final numbers, which will be released mid-July, will approach 16,500 units for heavy-duty Class 8 trucks and 12,900 for medium duty Classes 5-7 vehicles. The preliminary net order numbers are typically accurate to within 5% of actual, according to ACT
“The explanation for the soft patch remains of the ‘death by a thousand cuts’ variety,” said Kenny Vieth, president and senior analyst at ACT Research. “As has been the case since late February/early March, the issue appears to boil down to credit-buying truckers’ confidence in the economy relative to the risk of taking out a sizeable loan to buy a truck. To that end, risk, economic or political, domestic or global, remains high, and memories of 2009 are still fresh.”
