Wabash National

Punitive damages in huge Wabash judgment slashed but still over $100M

A court in Missouri rejected a wide variety of requests from trailer builder Wabash National arising from the lawsuit that led to one of the biggest nuclear verdicts ever in trucking and equipment, but the company did win a huge reduction in punitive damages.

The $450 million in punitive damages was slashed to $108 million by Judge Christoper McGraugh of the 22nd Judicial Circuit Court of Missouri in a decision handed down last week. 

But on virtually every other request made by Wabash regarding...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/punitive-damages-in-huge-wabash-judgment-slashed-but-still-over-100m

With trailer orders down, Wabash National gets negative outlook at S&P

Trailer manufacturer Wabash National, which has seen a sharp downturn in its financial measurements, has hung on to its credit rating from S&P Global, but its outlook has been lowered to negative by the ratings agency.

S&P said it was affirming Wabash’s BB- issuer credit rating. It also has a B+ issue-level rating on the company’s senior unsecured notes, as well as a recovery rating of 5. Those were both affirmed by S&P.

A negative outlook at S&P Global means conditions are in place that may lead...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/with-trailer-orders-down-wabash-national-gets-negative-outlook-at-sp

Wabash National hit with $462M verdict in trailer equipment case

Wabash National is evaluating its options in response to a $462 million verdict against the truck trailer manufacturer by a jury in Missouri state court. The case involves a fatal crash of a car into the back of a truck in 2019 in which two people in the car were killed.

The St. Louis jury reached their verdict – which includes $450 million in punitive damages and $6 million each to the families of the two victims in compensatory damages – after three hours of deliberations following a two-week...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/wabash-national-hit-with-462m-verdict-in-trailer-equipment-case

Loaded and Rolling: J.B. Hunt and Wabash make a deal; Susquehanna trucking outlook

J.B. Hunt and Wabash cut multiyear trailer deal
(Photo: Jim Allen/FreightWaves)

Wabash and J.B. Hunt Transport have signed a multiyear deal that will supply J.B. Hunt with 15,000 trailers. The size and scope of the pact are significant, as the past two years saw pandemic-related supply chain disruptions throttle up new trailer orders, causing the average age of existing trailers to rise. Older trailers mean more maintenance costs. 

“The deal — the exact length was undisclosed — is significant,”...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/loaded-and-rolling-jb-hunt-and-wabash-make-a-deal-susquehanna-trucking-outlook

The Log Book: Hardy Brothers Trucking delivers U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree

The Log Book is a weekly rundown of human-interest stories related to the transportation industry. This week: husband and wife team drivers deliver the U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree, Wabash continues to support the local Feeding America food bank and Love’s distributes holiday meals to military families.

Hardy Brothers Trucking delivers U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree

Truck manufacturer Kenworth recently announced its T680 Next Gen truck was utilized by husband and wife team drivers, Deb and Ed...

Loaded and Rolling: Trailer as a service; large carrier Q2 earnings boon

Loaded and Rolling Cover ImageTrailer-as-a-service partnership 
(Source: FreightVana)

Trailer pool services are gaining adoption. Wabash, a major manufacturer of equipment, recently announced a partnership with Phoenix-based freight brokerage FreightVana to supply the company with its trailer-as-a-service (TaaS) platform. The platform will provide FreightVana customers with trailer pool services as part of the power-only offering known as FreightVana X. 

This comes as more shippers seek trailer pools to provide greater...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/loaded-and-rolling-trailer-as-a-service-large-carrier-q2-earnings-boon

Trailer orders ramp up in September, pushing existing bookings into 2022

Trailer manufacturers began to satiate pent-up fleet demand in September, but new bookings pushed the length of the backlog for delivery into 2022 amid uncertainties surrounding rolling supply shortages.

Preliminary reports from ACT Research show trailer manufacturers posted 28,500 net orders in September, a 130% gain from August but 45% behind September 2020, the third-highest orders in history.

“We’ve been awaiting the opening of the 2022 orderboard, and that finally occurred during September,”...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/trailer-orders-ramp-up-in-september-pushing-existing-bookings-into-2022

Cold Chain Summit: Wabash National’s composite tech chilling the trailer business

This fireside chat recap is from FreightWaves’ Cold Chain Summit on Wednesday.

FIRESIDE CHAT TOPIC: How composite technology is changing trailer manufacturing

DETAILS: Wabash National is best known as a manufacturer of dry vans. But it is putting a focus on first- to final-mile products by use of molded structural composite that it is applying across its equipment offerings.

SPEAKER: Brent Yeagy, president and CEO, Wabash National Corp.

BIO: Yeagy has been president of Wabash National for the past...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/cold-chain-summit-wabash-nationals-composite-technology-chilling-the-trailer-business

Trailer orders tank in July as manufacturers struggle to find workers

A lack of workers, supply chain disruptions and the effective end of the order cycle combined to push new trailer orders down 58% year over year in July.

Manufacturers would have built more equipment to meet strong demand “if the supply chain would have been more robust,” Wabash National Corp. President and CEO Brent Yeagy told FreightWaves. 

“We have generally met our ramp targets for 2021,” he said. “We could have probably exceeded them based on the demand that we have.”

Suppliers’ own issues...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/trailer-orders-tank-in-july-as-manufacturers-struggle-to-find-workers

Wabash National bets big on dry vans, increases capacity by 20%

Wabash National Corp. is ramping down traditional refrigerated capacity and converting the floor space to add 20% more dry vans by 2023, counting on freight demand lasting well beyond the current peak.

“As we think about the past, present and future of our manufacturing footprint, we have found ourselves with demand [that] has exceeded physical capacity for the production of dry vans,” CEO Brent Yeagy said Wednesday on the company’s Q2 call with analysts.

Building dry vans to address demand...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/wabash-national-bets-big-on-dry-vans-increases-capacity-by-20

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