Columbus,IND,USA -Truck News (CAN) -5 May 2011: -- Preliminary results from ACT Research indicate Class 8 commercial vehicle net orders climbed to 38,200 units in North America in April... That's a 158% increase from a year ago and the largest monthly order intake since March 2006, the company announced... The list of positive drivers leading to the April order spike is long: Healthy freight, increasing trucker profits, pent-up replacement demand, rising used equipment prices, improving credit worthiness, rising prices for new vehicles, and lead times for new equipment that have pushed out to the end of the year. If that was not enough, there is the accelerated depreciation schedule for 2011 to consider. The challenge now is for the industry to translate all of this demand into trucks" ...(Image from assets.paragonrouting: truck fleet)* USA - Japan Disaster Hits Caterpillar Global Output - Sporadic events affecting many Cat facilities worldwide Peoria,ILL,USA -The Journal of Commerce Online, by John D. Boyd -Apr 29, 2011: -- Caterpillar, a major global manufacturer of industrial, agricultural and transportation equipment including for trucking and rail markets, said it is "experiencing sporadic production disruptions at many of our facilities around the world," because many of its suppliers in Japan were affected by the earthquake and tsunami there... The U.S. company reported first-quarter profit of $1.2 billion, up from $233 million in the 2010 first quarter, as sales volume surged amid the global recovery... However, Caterpillar said the outlook would be even stronger except for continuing effects of the disaster in Japan, which also killed two employees of a Caterpillar dealer... The situation has already improved some as employees and suppliers work to get operations back to levels that existed before the disaster struck...* W. Virginia - Truck maker Hino Motors to cut production at W.Va. plant due to parts shortage
Williamstown,W.VA,USA -The Republic/Associated Press -May 06, 2011: -- Hino Motors Manufacturing USA is cutting production at its West Virginia truck plant again because of a parts shortage created by the March disasters in Japan... Hino cut production at the Williamstown plant to four-day weeks in April... Sandy Ring with Hino's home office in Michigan tells that production will be reduced to three days beginning next week. Full-time and part-time employees will continue to work four days a week... Hino's parent company, Toyota Motor Corp., has cut its U.S. production by two-thirds because of the parts shortage. Honda Motor Corp. has reduced production at 10 of its U.S. and Canadian plants. Both have said they aren't laying off workers... (Photo from 2.bp.blogspot: Hino truck)
* California - Freightliner offering natural gas version of new vocational truck
Long Beach,CAL,USA -Truck news (CAN) -May 9, 2011: -- Freightliner has introduced a natural gas-powered version of its new 114 Severe-Duty (SD) set-back axle vocational truck... The new 114SD SBA is a lightweight truck aimed at a range of vocational applications, including: dump; refuse; and sewer vac... The natural gas version of the truck will be powered by the Cummins ISL G engine and it will be matched with an Allison 3000RDS transmission, the company announced... The 114SD SBA was introduced earlier this year. Production of the natural gas version will commence in December, Freightliner announced... (Image from domesticfuel: Freightliner trucks busclass)* California - Food truck makers revived by gourmet trend
Los Angeles,CAL,USA -The Los Angeles Times, by Sharon Bernstein -May 8, 2011: -- The Southern California companies that outfit and customize catering trucks — or lease them out — enjoy a boom as the craze spreads throughout the country... Hopeful gourmet truck entrepreneurs come from all over the country to get retired vehicles transformed into gleaming, rolling emporiums that dish out everything from comfort food to exotic fare... Fully equipped, new trucks can run to $100,000 and much more. Customizers begin with a basic commercial truck, manufactured by companies such as Ford Motor Co. and Freightliner Trucks, to which they add sinks, counters, appliances and other equipment needed for a mobile kitchen. They also cut out serving windows and make other modifications to turn the truck into a plain or fancy catering vehicle... The truck alone will cost $20,000 used, or up to $75,000 if Grenis opts to buy a new one... (Image by Lindsay Rebecca, from laist: flying_pig_truck.jpg)
* New York - Pickup Truck Sales Plunge To Thirty-Year Low
New York,NY,USA -The Car Connection -9 May 2011: -- Sales of pickup trucks, once considered the staple vehicle of U.S. automakers, fell to volumes not seen since Ward's Auto began keeping a database in 1980... April 2011 sales of compact and full-size pickups accounted for just 11.8 percent of light vehicle sales during the month. Year to date sales of pickup trucks are also down, with the truck segment accounting for just 12.6 percent of light vehicle sales... By comparison, pickup truck sales accounted for 22.9 percent of light vehicle sales at their peak in July of 2005. Back then, unemployment was at 5 percent and regular gasoline cost just $2.28 per gallon, and non-commercial demand for pickup trucks generally parallels both unemployment and fuel costs... Even in Texas, long considered the biggest truck market in the United States, sales are down... While sales of both small and mid-size cars are up, all hope isn’t lost for the truck market just yet... If history is an indicator, it will take a significant decrease in both unemployment and gasoline prices before pickup truck sales rebound to their prior levels... (Photo: A 2011 Ford F-150 towing a trailer)
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