Will Trump’s Take on Trade Be Boost or Bust for Fleets?

Image: Mexico Secretaria de Comunicaciones y Transportes

Candidate Donald Trump made scrapping or reworking various free trade agreements the United States is party to a central theme of his presidential campaign last year. Such rhetoric was highly popular with his supporters. And in his first full week in office, President Donald Trump has made reexamination of international trade agreements a top priority for his administration.

But the North American trucking industry has benefited greatly from various free trade agreements – notably the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). In the past week, President Trump pulled out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership and angered Mexico with his insistence that NAFTA be renegotiated to give the U.S. a stronger commercial hand while creating a funding stream that would have the Mexican government pay for a wall along the southern border to check illegal immigration into the U.S.

So far, the Canadian government has expressed concerns about President's Trump's trade moves, while the Mexican government has signaled it would walk away from all trade agreements with the U.S. and seek new international trading partners if it is treated in a way it perceives as being unfair.

Last summer, the U.S. Department of Transportation reported that cross-border trade generated by NAFTA was worth $89 billion to the trucking industry. So are President Trump's recent actions a positive move for trucking? Or should American fleet executives be concerned?

Bill Sullivan, executive vice president of advocacy for the American Trucking Associations, said that ATA wants to help the Trump administration find a way forward on trade that keeps goods flowing and creating more jobs. "Trade and trucking are synonymous, and the increased movement of freight yields more good paying jobs and growth in American companies,” Sullivan said.

“We want to help the administration and Congress build a trade framework that helps grow our economy, ...Read the rest of this story

Judge Rules SEC Suit Against Former Navistar Exec Can Proceed

The federal government's securities fraud suit against Daniel C. Ustian, former chairman and CEO of Navistar International, can proceed in spite of objections raised by Ustian's attorneys, a federal judge has ruled.

Ustian had promoted a unique diesel exhaust emissions solution. But the Securities and Exchange Commission has charged in its suit that he knew it couldn't work, with subsequent losses to company investors.

Federal Judge Sara Ellis, of the Northern District of Illinios, made the ruling earlier this week, reported the Springfield (Ohio) News-Sun.

“Because the SEC sufficiently alleges that Ustian's statements were misleading and material to the investing public and that Ustian knew this, the SEC sufficiently states a claim for securities fraud,” wrote Judge Ellis. “The SEC also sufficiently alleges that Navistar violated the securities laws and that Ustian is liable for Navistar's violations.”

Navistar's Advanced EGR diesels couldn't meet EPA exhaust limits, but Chairman and CEO Dan Ustian promoted the products anyway, the SEC has charged. Photo: Tom Berg

From late 2009 and for several years after, Ustian said an approach called Advanced-EGR (exhaust-gas recirculation) would meet federal Environmental Protection Agency standards. But the SEC says continued testing by Navistar engineers showed it wouldn't work. Meanwhile, Ustian led a marketing assault on competitors who used selective catalytic reduction, the exhaust aftertreatment requiring urea (diesel exhaust fluid) injection, as inconvenient and expensive.

Navistar investors revolted when serious problems with A-EGR became known, customers complained, sales sagged, expensive warranty claims caused losses for the company, and stock value fell. Ustian was dismissed in August 2012, and last year Navistar paid a $7.5-million fine to the government for violating emissions rules.

Judge Ellis further wrote that: “The United States Securities and Exchange Commission alleges that Defendant Daniel C. Ustian, Navistar's former CEO and president, was so driven by a desire to produce an ...Read the rest of this story

Stemco Builds R&D Lab to Design and Test Air Springs

Photo: Stemco

Stemco has completed construction of a research and development lab built to design and test advances in materials, designs, and technology for commercial vehicle air springs.

The 20,000-square-foot facility was built in response to Stemco's acquisition of the air springs business of the former Veyance Technologies, now part of Continental AG, which produced Goodyear Air Spring products. The new facility was built in Fairlawn, Ohio.

Purchase of the site was first approved in Oct. 2015 and groundbreaking took place in Nov. 2015. The full build schedule took eight months to complete, which included moving, installation, and recalibration of all the test equipment. Stemco engaged with Geis Companies, an Ohio-based design/build company, for all aspects of the construction process.

“Following the purchase of the Goodyear Air Springs business, we were intent on keeping the business in Fairlawn, retaining the workforce and investing where necessary to support our long-term growth,” said David Brinkman, segment business leader, air springs for Stemco. “The new facility features state-of-the-art test equipment for a talented group of engineers that will serve our production facilities and our customers well in the future.”

Related: Stemco Agrees to Buy Veyance Air Springs

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OBITUARY: Stan Williamson, 1925-2017

Energy project puts Gordie Howe between the pipes

Trucking Activity Looks Strong to Start 2017

Photo: Cargo Transporters

LAS VEGAS. “Truckable Economic Activity,” that chunk of the Gross Domestic Product that spends time in trucks, looks to be getting off to a strong start in 2017, according to Robert Dieli, president of RDLB, Inc., a Chicago-based economic research and management consulting firm.

Speaking at the Heavy Duty Aftermarket Dialogue event here, Dieli said he expects the expansion phase of the business cycle to continue through 2017. “Domestic events, mainly those surrounding fiscal policy are expected to have the most effect on TEA over the course of 2017 and 2018.”

The main components of TEA are consumption, investment, exports, imports and government. Dieli said the composition of TEA growth will continue to change. “We expect improvements in Truckable Fixed Investment and Truckable Exports. The adjustment to structural transformation will continue; of special concern is the implementation of electronic logging device regulations.”

Currently, 45% of TEA is consumption, 24% investment, 14% exports, 10% imports (imports are counted as a plus in TEA because they spend time on trucks) and government 7%.

Dieli said we are still in the expansion phase of the business cycle, but at some point there will be a boom and “we will begin to see economic instability.”

He uses something called the Enhanced Aggregate Spread, which is a nine-month forward forecasting model. “It is saying we should have expansion continue through the third quarter of 2017.”

Dieli spent some time during his presentation talking about how hiring patterns are a reliable indicator of trucking activity. General freight accounts for 69% of trucking hires while specialized freight (reefers, tanks, flat beds, moving companies, etc.) account for the other 31%. “Early in 2016 we saw a decline in trucking employment,” he said, “but that reversed itself and we have had strong increases in trucking employment since.” ...Read the rest of this story

Robert Nuss Named 2017 ATD Truck Dealer of the Year

Photo: ATD

Robert Nuss, president of Minnesota-based Nuss Truck Group, has been named the 2017 Truck Dealer of the Year by the American Truck Dealers, Heavy Duty Trucking magazine and Procede Software.

Nuss received the award on Jan. 27 during the 2017 ATD Convention & Expo,in New Orleans, La. Nuss Truck Group, which is based in Rochester Minn., offers Mack Trucks, Volvo Trucks, Isuzu Commercial Trucks, and Volvo Construction equipment.

Nuss has served on the Mack Dealer Council as its chairman and it was noted that he actively gives back to the community through involvement in local charitable organizations, such as the Rochester Area Foundation, Rochester Boys & Girls Club, Seasons Hospice, and others.

He was one of five nominees for the Truck Dealer of the Year award, which honors excellence in business practices, industry leadership and community service. Faculty members from Indiana University's Kelley School of Business choose the winner.

All nominees were selected by state, metro and national association leaders. The other four nominees for the 2017 Truck Dealer of the Year award were:

Read what all five nominees have to say about dealer trends affecting fleets in the February issue of Heavy Duty Trucking magazine.

Related: Tom Bertolino Named 2016 Truck Dealer of the Year

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