Vocational trucks

Vocational trucks, Mexico demand prop up Class 8 orders

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Lower-than-expected Class 8 truck orders in December barely impacted the seasonally adjusted...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/vocational-trucks-mexico-demand-prop-up-class-8-orders

New Class 8 truck deliveries fall for 4 consecutive months  

The strength in new Class 8 orders belies a four-month slide in deliveries while used truck prices continue to fall, albeit more slowly as 2023 comes to a close.

Through the first 11 months of the year, the industry has delivered 242,881 new Class 8 trucks, 7.8% more than the same period in 2022, according to Ward’s Intelligence. But the year-over-year lead has shrunk each month since February when sales were 35% ahead compared with 2022.

This contrasts with ACT Research, which reported net...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/new-class-8-truck-deliveries-fall-for-4-consecutive-months

Class 8 catch-up largely over as replacement iron drives orders

Pent-up demand for new Class 8 trucks in a slowing freight market has rebalanced equipment orders to replacement purchases.

This is not an altogether bad thing as manufacturers look to a slower quarter with more holidays.

“The Class 8 backlog should rise by around 3,400 units when full October data are released in mid-November,” Kenny Vieth, ACT Research president and senior analyst, said. “If those numbers hold, Class 8 backlogs will have ended October at around 165,000 units.”

That’s a healthy...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/class-8-catch-up-largely-over-as-replacement-iron-drives-orders

Paccar price hikes propel Q2 profit surge

Paccar charged 15% more for a new truck than a year ago, a driving force behind a surge in second-quarter profits.

But inflation-driven pricing is only part of the story of a record 70% increase in Q2 profitability.

The Bellevue, Washington-based parent of Kenworth, Peterbilt and DAF Trucks charged customers substantially more for new equipment than the roughly 9% increase it paid to build a truck.

“We expect [gross profit] margins of 18-19% in Q3. That’s a testament of how we see the price/cost...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/truck-and-parts-price-hikes-propel-paccars-q2-profit-surge

Revamped Freightliner medium-duty trucks adopt Cascadia resemblance

The revamped Freightliner Plus medium-duty truck lineup coming in 2023 borrows a few styling cues from its full-size Cascadia brother. But the biggest changes are on the inside.

An all-new electrical architecture makes it easier for upfitters to wire connections to bodies and vocational equipment. The routing changes also allowed radio speakers to move from the dash to the doors — like passenger vehicles — for better sound quality.

The M2 106 and 112 Plus and the 108SD Plus and 114SD Plus from...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/revamped-freightliner-medium-duty-trucks-adopt-cascadia-resemblance

Western Star births little brother for 49X vocational truck

Western Star is making a family thing out of its newest off-highway trucks, introducing a little brother to the popular 49X vocational model that debuted last year. 

The move signals Daimler Trucks’ commitment to building the brand’s tough-task vocational trucks in North America as it becomes a stand-alone company later this year. 

The 47X, which goes on sale in early 2022, shares a chassis and electrical architecture with the 49X, meaning customers can seamlessly move between the models and...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/western-star-births-little-brother-for-49x-vocational-truck

AEV Summit: Xos on why vocational vehicles make great EVs

Xos Trucks is electrifying vocational vehicles.

This fireside chat recap is from FreightWaves’ Autonomous & Electric Vehicles Summit.

FIRESIDE CHAT TOPIC: Electrifying the less glamorous commercial vehicles

DETAILS: From armored trucks to heavy-duty tractors, there are great candidates for electrification. Xos embraces these opportunities to transition to zero tailpipe emission powertrains.

SPEAKER: Dakota Semler is the co-founder and CEO of Xos Trucks.

BIO: Xos Trucks is a Los Angeles-based electric mobility company dedicated to decarbonizing...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/aev-summit-xos-on-why-vocational-vehicles-make-great-evs

5 questions with Daimler Trucks North America’s Samatha Parlier

Samantha Parlier loved cars in high school. She spent her after-school job money on improvements to her first car. That passion carried her to Seattle University, where she studied mechanical engineering “obsessed with metallurgy, metal and automotive. 

“I was naive enough to think that the automotive industry and big trucks are the same because they have wheels and engines,” she said. “It turns out they’re not at all. But that’s actually what got me into the industry.”

Samantha Parlier, vice...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/5-questions-with-daimler-trucks-north-americas-samatha-parlier

All-new Western Star 49X vocational truck breaks cover

LED lights that can burn through 3 millimeters of ice in 10 minutes. Outside mirrors stable enough to support pull-ups by a 300-pound man. Staircase-designed steps to reach the cab.

These are a few of the features of the all-new Western Star 49X, a vocational truck six years in development. 

The 49X is billed as an alternative rather than a replacement for the Western Star 4900 model used in extreme service like mining, logging and hauling asphalt. The Daimler Trucks North America (DTNA) division...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/all-new-western-star-49x-vocational-truck-breaks-cover

Volvo announces new auto hauler, details VHD vocational truck

Volvo Trucks auto hauler

COVID-19 took some of the thunder away from Volvo Trucks North America (VTNA) in March, but the company is regaining some of the spotlight now.

VTNA held a virtual press conference on Thursday highlighting some of the key attributes of its new VHD model, introduced at ConExpo in March, announcing a new auto hauler option, the VAH, and touching on some of the impacts the COVID pandemic has had on the company.

One adjustment Volvo has had to make is shifting to a “virtual walk-around” for...

https://s29755.pcdn.co/news/volvo-announces-new-auto-hauler-details-vhd-vocational-truck

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