Trucking Dive’s Post

Truck orders are down, a macro-level symptom that requires greater context to understand. Anyone involved in transportation knows that the Covid freight boom and subsequent bust have reinforced trucking business fundamentals. Carriers who entered leases during Covid or just before likely have assets sitting idle now, creating a situation with fixed costs but not the expected revenue. Carriers not facing increased fixed costs from leases are valuing liquidity. It takes time to sell off assets, and tight cash flow means liquidity is crucial. With a lot of inventory sitting around, it’s a buyer’s market in the secondary markets. All these factors affect the big picture. Carriers are trying to survive, and buying new trucks is not a top priority in the for-hire truckload market. #Transportation #TruckingIndustry #FreightMarket #Logistics #SupplyChain #BusinessTrends #AssetManagement #CashFlow #EconomicFactors #TruckOrders

In July, U.S. Class 8 truck sales finally saw a rebound after nearly a year of declines. Here are the key highlights: • 𝗖𝗹𝗮𝘀𝘀 𝟴 𝗧𝗿𝘂𝗰𝗸 𝗦𝗮𝗹𝗲𝘀 𝗥𝗲𝗯𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱: Sales increased by 1.8%, breaking an 11-month streak of declines. • 𝗙𝗿𝗲𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗿 𝗗𝗼𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘀: Freightliner captured a 35.3% market share, despite a slight 0.6% drop in sales. • 𝗢𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁: Although July sales improved, year-to-date sales remain down 14% compared to last year. For more details, read the full article on Transport Topics. https://lnkd.in/gRCrqupx #Logistics #TruckSales #Freight

It's without a doubt that this year, especially the past few weeks has been tough on the trucking economy. Class 8 sales has been on a decline and something you hear constantly in every day conversations. Tough pill to swallow, but data will always reveal the hard facts. The upside to that, is the data's there and will always be there. 🤔 Our economy will still continue to turn and businesses still have operations and orders to fulfill. There is no stopping those two things for sure. The market will always have more negatives than positives...you just need to continue to read the data, be resourceful and find the right solutions.💡 Already halfway through the month and if you're pushing hard, time to make that hard turn around 2nd and bring it home. Have a great week everyone! TruckTractorTrailer.com #truckingindustry #transportationindustry #usedtrucks #trailers #trucktractortrailer

It's been a tough year for the trucking industry. There has been a rise in used truck inventories as carriers swap older models for new ones, while some carriers cease operations. However, despite increased availability and lower prices, these benefits may not fully offset elevated credit costs and challenges in the freight market. U.S. Class 8 Truck Sales (Nov '23): First 7 months: sales were up Nov saw a decline of 17.5% YTD: 242,881 trucks sold, up 7.8% from 2022 Market Trends: Growing inventory. Nov used truck prices down 5%, volume up 48%. https://lnkd.in/gJBMX_gA

Don’t let the opportunity pass you by; let Penske Truck Leasing assist you with your fleet planning today. A decrease in class 8 production leads to an increase in available inventory and an overall reduction in the value of your assets. To add more complexity the “mother of all prebuys” is right around the corner. Start planning TODAY for a successful future. https://lnkd.in/gdYVwbCv

PENSKE AUTOMOTIVE GROUP INCREASES DIVIDEND BY 10% BLOOMFIELD HILLS, Mich., Jan. 17, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Penske Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE: PAG), a diversified international transportation services company and one of the world's premier automotive and commercial truck retailers, today announced that its Board of Directors has approved a quarterly dividend of $0.87 per share, representing an increase of 10%. "We are pleased to provide an increase in the cash dividend.  The strength of our balance sheet and our continued strong cash flow enables us to reward our shareholders," said Penske Automotive Group President, Robert Kurnick, Jr. The dividend is payable March 1, 2024, to shareholders of record as of February 15, 2024. About Penske Automotive Penske Automotive Group, Inc., (NYSE: PAG) headquartered in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, is a diversified international transportation services company and one of the world's premier automotive and commercial truck retailers. PAG operates dealerships in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, Italy, and Japan and is one of the largest retailers of commercial trucks in North America for Freightliner. PAG also distributes and retails commercial vehicles, diesel and gas engines, power systems, and related parts and services principally in Australia and New Zealand. PAG employs over 28,000 people worldwide. Additionally, PAG owns 28.9% of Penske Transportation Solutions ("PTS"), a business that employs over 44,000 people worldwide, manages one of the largest, most comprehensive and modern trucking fleets in North America with over 442,000 trucks, tractors, and trailers under lease, rental, and/or maintenance contracts and provides innovative transportation, supply chain, and technology solutions to its customers. PAG is a member of the Fortune 500, Russell 1000, Russell 3000 index and S&P 400 Mid Cap Indexes. For additional information, including the Company's 2023 Corporate Responsibility Report highlighting its strategies, activities, and certain metrics, visit the Company's website at www.penskeautomotive.com. #automotive #retail #penske

 Sales of commercial vehicles in Mexico could hit a record this year, the Mexican Automotive Distributors Association (AMDA) said on Wednesday. Mexico exported $593 billion worth of goods in 2023, with much of it transported over land using trucks or tractor-trailers. Cargo flows over the U.S.-Mexico border also made the countries each other's largest trading partners last year. Mexico is experiencing a manufacturing boom, with multi-national firms bringing their operations closer to products' final destinations, often in the U.S. and frequently referred to as "nearshoring." "As we know, nearshoring represents a unique opportunity for the development of Mexico, and because of that, it's important to guarantee the best conditions for stability, infrastructure and coordination to boost the supply chain in the country, which will in turn boost employment and economic growth," said the head of the National Association of Bus, Truck and Tractor-Trailer Producers (ANPACT), Rogelio Arzate. In August, Volvo announced it was building a $700 million plant in the northern Mexican city of Monterrey to produce heavy-duty trucks. The company cited logistic efficiencies and the benefit of being able to sell vehicles in Mexico, Latin America and the southwest and west of the United States from the site. An expected 56,592 commercial vehicles will be sold in Mexico this year, according to AMDA, above the record set in 2007 with 53,300 sales.

In good times, carriers often buy more equipment to add capacity and grow their businesses. In slower times, OEMs’ sales naturally tend to be less robust. While carriers once struggled to add capacity amid a pandemic-induced spike in demand, the freight market then plunged into a two-year freight recession, and more normal seasonal trends have been mixed. Trucking Dive is tracking monthly Class 8 truck and trailer orders, as reported by FTR | Transportation Intelligence. While truck and trailer purchases don’t tell the full story, they serve as a key indicator of freight market demand and capacity. #trucks #trailers #equipment #orders #demand https://lnkd.in/etX63vea

Traton’s profits rose in the second quarter of 2024 as higher prices and South American demand trumped a slump in truck sales for Navistar’s International Trucks brand due to a shortage of mirrors. Munich-based Traton posted a profit in the most recent quarter of $1.095 billion, up 4.4% compared with $1.049 billion in the year-ago period. Traton reports its earnings in Euros, and all conversions are correct as of July 26. Traton revenues in Q2 totaled $12.587 billion, a 0.7% decrease compared with $12.674 billion a year earlier. Support came from a strong South American market (aiding Scania and Volkswagen Truck & Bus sales), higher prices and a “favorable market and product mix.” TRATON GROUP Blog – Stock Market – Canada and United States – July 26 2024 - https://lnkd.in/g3vwXafR

Over a year ago, I posted about PAM Transport ‘s healthy cash position to “weather” the turbulence of downturn in trucking that was becoming a staying concern. The anticipation of a downturn prior to 2023 enabled a growth phase in adverse economic conditions. It would appear that the company truck assets are being reduced while providing enough incentives to grow its owner operator fleet. In so doing, PAM was able to reduce direct operating costs (maintenance, fuel, payroll, etc.) while preserving capacity (probably posting modest growth). If they keep building on the momentum, an opportunity to capitalize upon the equilibrium of capacity versus freight demand, and seasonal uptick likely will be realized.