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Apr 27, 2009

TRUCKMAKER'S COMMENT * USA - Trucking Faces Core Changes

The entire North American trucking industry is in the midst of a fundamental reshaping, which will lead to flat tonnage levels for fleets and fewer truck manufacturers producing much more expensive vehicles and mostly in Mexico...

Oxon Hill,MD,USA -Transport Topics, by Jonathan S. Reiskin -27 April 2009: -- ... Said James Hebe, Navistar Inc.’s senior vice president for North American sales operations, at the American Truck Dealers’ annual meeting here on April 20 that, although the current recession started in late 2007, trucking’s downturn began a year earlier... He anticipates something of a truck sales surge during the second half of this year, but only so buyers can avoid more expensive 2010 trucks equipped with new emissions controls... Carrier managers, he said, are ever more selective about the freight they haul. Furthermore, he said, there might be fewer loads to haul... Hebe predicted higher federal taxes will cut consumers’ discretionary spending, resulting in slow growth or no growth in demand for trucking services... Owner-operators, Hebe said, will vanish because of high fuel and equipment prices and the anticipated rise of electronic onboard recorders. EOBRs are noteworthy, Hebe said, in that a key strategy for some owner-operators has been to run longer than federal hours-of-service rules permit... “That is the death knell for owner-operators. They can’t survive by running legal,” he said... As for the trucks being sold today, Hebe said they are of far higher quality than those made years ago, which means they last longer. Coupled with less freight and shorter routes, the result will be lower truck sales and production, leading to a contraction in truck manufacturing... “We will be a smaller industry"... Less production means fewer economies of scale and, therefore, higher per-unit costs. Adding in a prediction for a return of high inflation, Hebe said truck prices will rise sharply...


* Navistar Says Trucks Qualify for More CARB Vouchers

Warrenville,ILL,USA -Transport Topics -27 April 2009: -- Navistar International Corp. said Monday that it has received total hybrid vehicle certification from the California Air Resources Board, becoming the the first truck and bus manufacturer to do so... Under a program CARB approved Friday, purchases of commercial hybrid vehicles can receive incentives ranging from $10,000 to $35,000 per vehicle. But purchasers of Navistar hybrid trucks and buses will receive addition $5,000 vouchers, Navistar said... The CARB program sets aside $25 million for the incentive program, which is part of a California assembly bill aimed at deploying hybrid commercial vehicles, Navistar said...


* Wabash National Looks to Uncertain Future

Lafayette,IN,USA -Trailer Body Builders -Apr 20, 2009: -- Wabash National has expressed concerns about its viability in documents the company has filed with the Security and Exchange Commission... Wabash did not file the report until mid-April, a delay caused in part by efforts to renegotiate financial commitments... The trailer manufacturer said that it has limited liquidity and may need to arrange for additional liquidity on terms described as “unfavorable.”... The company also said that it likely will need to issue new equity or obtain additional sources debt...

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