OPTIMISM * USA - Truck sales will “gradually” pick up in ’11, ’12 and ‘13

San Antonio,TX,USA -Fleet Owner, by Sean Kilcarr -Dec 15, 2010: -- Sales of new trucks should pick up nicely over the next three years, according to W. M. “Rusty” Rush, president & CEO of Rush Enterprises, which owns one of the largest chains of truck dealerships in the U.S... Yet he cautioned that while motor carriers continue to experience a healthy uptick in freight volumes and rates, it will be slow going for those two critical metrics over the next several years. That means truck sales will be good, but will not necessarily return to the heady peak last seen in 2006... RTC operates 59 dealerships in 14 states and employs between 800 and 900 technicians. Rush Enterprises overall survived the downturn and stayed profitable. It generated $1.2 billion in revenues last year and sold 9,490 commercial trucks, yet remained focused on its goal of growing to $5 billion in revenue with a 20% average return on equity...