TRUCK SALES * USA - ACT: Preliminary Class 8 net orders “remain strong”

Columbus,IND,USA -Fleet Owner, by David Cullen -Jun 3, 2011: -- Despite some cooling in the Class 8 market being reported by a key forecasting firm, their analysis suggests that nonetheless motor carriers are driving right through the current wave of bad economic news, keeping their sights firmly set on the road ahead. A preliminary reading of heavy-duty Class 8 commercial vehicles net orders shows they “fell from April’s high water mark but remained strong,” according to ACT Research Co. (ACT)... Net orders in fact were up 85% from a year ago May. The firm noted its preliminary net order numbers are subject to revision and are typically accurate to within 5%, plus or minus... ACT publishes new and used commercial vehicle (CV) industry data, market analysis and provides forecasting services for the North American market as well as the U.S. tractor-trailer market and the China CV market. ACT notes that its services are used by all major North American truck and trailer manufacturers and their suppliers, as well as the banking and investment community...

TRUCK SALES * USA - Stage set for continued commercial vehicle recovery

Columbus,Ind,USA -Truck News (CAN) -May 12, 2011: -- The stage has been set for a long run-up in demand across the medium-duty and heavy-duty truck and commercial trailer segments, according to ACT Research Co. (ACT)... The company said its most recent release of the ACT North American Commercial Vehicle OUTLOOK reflects solid fundamentals supporting the upcycle in the commercial vehicle market. These fundamentals include improved fleet financial performance, some improvement in credit availability, as well as pent-up demand from long-delayed equipment replacements and upgrades across the entire fleet spectrum, according to ACT... "While the pace of economic growth eased slightly in the first quarter of 2011, our forecast concludes that the US economy has shifted into a self-sustaining recovery mode," said Sam Kahan, ACT's chief economist. "The recovery in the commercial vehicle sector is solidly underway, and the overall constraining factor for 2011 might actually be the industry's ability to build rather than truckers' demand for vehicles"...

TRUCKS´ SALES * USA - Analysis: More Input That Used Truck Market Is Doing Better Than New

New York,NY,USA -GLG Reseaarch: Analysis by Jay Thompson -February 18, 2010: -- Used truck sales in the secondary used truck marketplace is fragmented - but strong. Volvo’s Arrow Truck Sales gives us insight into the marketplace from an OEM perspective and underscores that just written about with Rush Enterprises that it will continue to depress new sales... Over the last year, the glut of good used trucks in the OEM and secondary dealer markets has increased. The is in part due to continuing depressed freight marketplace (reduced need for capacity), repossessions of late model trucks and the surge of trucks at the end of their financing terms from the 2005-2006 time period when new truck sales were more than double that today. We (and others) estimate that there a half million usable Class 8 trucks available in the marketplace (parked at fleets or for sale) that will continue to dampen sales of new... In looking at actual used truck prices in the marketplace today, we can buy good 450,000 mile trucks at auction for $25,000 each - or 4 or 5 trucks for the price of one new one. A two year-old truck with 200,000 miles can be bought at auction for $45,000 - or two very good used ones for the price of one new...  (Photo from farm6.static.flickr: 2010 Volvo VN 780 Arrow Truck Sales-Elizabeth NJ)

* USA - Equipment orders still on a roll

Columbus,IN,USA -Fleet Owner, by Sean Kilcarr -May 5, 2011: -- Net orders for Class 8 trucks and commercial trailers remain on a roll as freight demand continues to exceed capacity, helping carriers generate cash for a long-overdue replacement of their aging fleets... According to ACT’s preliminary data, net orders for heavy-duty Class 8 trucks for North American markets climbed to 38,200 units in April – a 158% increase from the same month in 2010 – and represents the largest monthly order intake since March 2006...  The firm added that net orders for trailers in March were 21% higher that February and 33% higher than January. ACT also noted that trailer shipments for the first quarter of 2011 were up 109% compared to the same quarter in 2010... (Photo from Paccar: A new model Peterbilt truck)

TRUCK SALES * USA - Heavy Truck Orders Drop in February

New York,NY,USA -The Journal of Commerce Online, by William B. Cassidy -Mar 2, 2011:  --  Class 8 net orders fall 11 percent after surging 44 percent in late 2011... Heavy truck orders slowed 11 percent in February, but remained high enough to keep truck plants humming well into 2011, according to ACT Research...  The number of preliminary Class 8 tractor orders dropped by 3,000 in February from the previous month to 24,300 units, ACT Research said...  That is still a high level of activity. ACT reported 27,300 net orders in January, and 27,044 orders in December, the highest monthly total since 2006...  From October through January, monthly net Class 8 tractor orders increased 44 percent, jumping 39 percent from 18,914 in October to 26,268 in November...

TRUCK SALES * USA - UPS Buys 48 LNG Heavy Trucks

Atlanta,GA,USA -Transport Topics -22 Feb 2011: -- UPS Inc. has purchased 48 heavy trucks powered by liquefied natural gas and will deploy them this year, it said Tuesday...  The vehicles, manufactured by Kenworth, will produce 25% fewer greenhouse gas emissions than the diesel trucks they will replace...  UPS will deploy the trucks later this year on a lane connecting Ontario, Calif. to Las Vegas, where the carrier’s 11 existing LNG tractors travel...  The trucks’ engines use a small amount of diesel fuel in addition to the natural gas. The carrier currently runs 1,914 alternative fuel vehicles... (Photo from orbitcast: Kenworth sirius model)

TRUCK SALES * USA - Ryder Expanding Fleet by 6,700 New Units

New Equipment Boosts Rental Fleet to Near 30,000

FL,USA -Transport Topics -15 Feb 2011: -- Ryder System said Tuesday it is expanding its North American rental fleet with 6,700 new trucks, tractors, trailers, and vans to meet growing demand...  The new vehicles — made up of multiple classes of tractors, trailers, refrigerated equipment, box trucks and light-duty vans — will expand its commercial rental fleet to near 30,000 units...  The 2011 additions, on top of last year’s 4,900 new vehicles, will raise the percentage of model-year-2010 or newer vehicles in its fleet to more than 40%, Ryder said in a statement...

TRUCK SALES * USA - Ward’s: Class 4-8 truck sales “finish 2010 in black”

New York,NY,USA -Fleet Owner -Jan 21, 2011: -- According to WardsAuto.com, Ward’s own data shows that “a 2.6% uptick in December helped boost U.S. sales of medium- and heavy-duty trucks to a 9% full-year gain over 2009” ... What Ward’s describes as “big-truck sales (Class 4-8 GVW) for 2010 totaled 217,702 units, compared with the prior year’s 199,686 tally... But “putting the jump in clearer perspective,” Ward’s Christie Schweinsberg stated in her report that 2008’s total was 298,424... For the year:

* Class 8 outpaced 2009 by 13%, led by a 65.4%

* Class 7 lost 1.9% of its 2009 volume

* Class 6 for the year was the hottest sector, “soaring 32.5% from 2009 levels.” 

* Class 5’s 51.9% jump was December’s biggest percentage-based improvement

* Class 4 incurred the biggest loss in December and for the year, dropping 65% and 39.2%, respectively...

* Freightliner touts 2010 retail sales, market share growth

Portland,ORE,USA -Truck News -Jan 21, 2011: -- Daimler Trucks North America (DTNA) has declared it finished 2010 as the market share leader for the US and NAFTA regions in the Classes 6-8 and Class 8 markets...  The company attributes its market share growth to the acceptance of its selective catalytic reduction (SCR) engine emissions technology...  DTNA's Classes 6-8 retail sales climbed to 67,800 units in the NAFTA market in 2010, reaching 31.6% market share, a gain of 2% over 2009, according to the company...  US sales accounted for 56,900 units and 32.6% of the market...  Daimler also scored 32.4% of the Class 8 NAFTA market and 33.9% of the Class 8 US market...  Not surprisingly, Freightliner led the way among DTNA brands. The NAFTA market saw 42,800 Class 8 Freightliners sold for 30.3% of the market share. Western Star also saw retail sales growth over 2009...  (Photo from fargofreightliner)

* GM to add 3rd shift, 750 jobs to Flint plant

Flint,MICH,USA -Fleet Owner -Jan 24, 2011: -- General Motors has announced plans to add a third shift at its Flint, MI, Assembly plant. The shift will result in the addition of 750 jobs, the company said...   The plant builds the Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra heavy-duty pickups... The new shift is expected to begin production in the third quarter. GM employs 2,100 currently at the Flint plant over two shifts. It produces 115,000 trucks a year, the company said... (Photo from t2.gstatic: GMC Sierra heavy-duty pickup )

* Chicago taxi firm adds Ford natural-gas vans

Chicago,ILL,USA -Fleet Owner -Jan 24, 2011:   --  Medallion Management affiliated with Yellow Cab Chicago, has purchased 12 Ford Transit Connect vans that run on natural gas instead of gasoline. In a statement issued by Ford and Taxi Medallion, the companies said the commercial vans are expected to help the cab company reach its goal of cutting total emissions by 25%... The Ford Transit Connect typically is used as a delivery van, but second-row seats can be added. According to the announcement, the natural gas-powered vans achieve some 23 mpg in combined city-highway driving-- 21% better than a conventional taxi cab such as the Ford Crown Victoria sedan... The natural gas-powered Ford Transit Connects are scheduled to be delivered in March... (Photo from unnen: 2011 Ford Transit Connect Taxi )

* US Xpress buys a thousand Petes

Chattanooga,TENN,USA -Hooked Up/Truck News, by James Menzies -24 Jan 2011: -- Peterbilt has announced that US mega-fleet US Xpress has placed an order for 1,000 new Model 587s. It's significant order any way you look at it, but it's especially interesting since US Xpress had been a devout Freightliner user since, well, pretty much since the company's inception... (Photo from farm3.static.flickr)

TRUCK SALES * USA - Used Truck Sales Drop 16 Percent as Prices Rise

Demand increasing for costlier low-mileage, recent-model-year used trucks

Columbus,IN,USA -The Journal of Commerce Online, by William B. Cassidy -Nov 29, 2010: -- Used truck sales fell 16 percent in October from the previous month, while orders for new heavy trucks surged 24 percent from September... The drop in used truck sales is most likely tied to rising prices and a limited pool of available low-mileage used vehicles, according to ACT Research... The average price of a used truck climbed 4 percent from September to October, the research firm said in its latest report on the used vehicle market... Rising used truck prices and a limited supply of newer vehicles could herald further tightening of truck capacity in 2011... The surge in new truck orders and the drop in used vehicle sales indicate truck operators are staying away from older trucks that would require more maintenance and emit more pollutants than recent models...