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Trucking Recovery To Be Driven by Supply Side?
Chris Fisher The signs of a freight recovery that appeared early this year are gone, replaced by a tough market where recovery will have to come from a supply-side correction, American Trucking Associations’ Chief Economist Bob Costello said at ATA’s 2025 Management Conference & Exhibition in San Diego.
Costello delivered a blunt and sobering economic warning: new tariffs, persistent stagflation, and a slowing labor market have created “absolutely unsustainable” conditions for many carriers, and the only way out, at least near-term, is to erase capacity from the highway.
“It’s not easy to talk about because it’s people’s livelihoods, but it’s a necessary evil,” Costello said, noting that freight demand is unlikely to improve anytime soon. “This has got to be a supply-driven change in the market.”
The current 18% effective tariff rate, nearly six times higher than it was during the first Trump administration, is a level not seen since the 1930s. Costello warned that the industry is only in the “bottom of the second or top of the third inning” of feeling the impact. “Any benefits of putting tariffs on foreign goods… are years in the future, but the cost hits much quicker,” he said.
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Frasle Mobility To Buy Mexican Kuo’s Dacomsa for $389 Million
Fabio Ferraresi Brazilian auto parts producer Frasle Mobility said (July 8, 2024) it has agreed to buy Mexican auto spare parts distributor Dacomsa from Mexico’s Grupo Kuo S.A.B de C.V. for 2.1 billion reais ($389.5 million).
With the deal, Frasle Mobility, formerly known as Fras-le, said it would also acquire the Dacomsa-owned Kuo Motor and Fritec firms, as well as some tangible and intangibles assets related to those companies, according to a securities filing.
Frasle Mobility also expects to earn some 300 million reais with synergies to be generated from the deal – as measured by earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) – in a five-year period, a presentation by the firm showed.
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Alternative Power Report, April 2024
The April 2024 Alternative Power Report by Power Systems Research features several articles on batteries including one on sodium ion batteries as an alternative to Lithium Ion batteries, and another on the dropping cost of EV batteries. Hydrogen power sources show increasing promise, and there is an article on Chinese manufacturer CATL launching a battery pack with Yutong Bus Co to power commercial vehicles such as buses and trucks that has a 15-year warranty.…
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PSR Is Looking Forward To INTERMAT 2024
PARIS—The 2024 edition of INTERMAT, the International Exhibition for Construction and Infrastructure, is coming up soon. The four-day show will be held at the Paris Nord Villepinte Exhibition Center 30 minutes from Paris April 24-27, and Power Systems Research will be there.
INTERMAT is a leading trade show that brings together close to 1,000 industry exhibitors from the construction and infrastructure sectors worldwide. It showcases the latest equipment, materials, innovations, and technologies in the global construction industry.
PSR team members will attend INTERMAT to gather information from exhibitors and attendees on the newest products and industry trends.
If you would like to meet with us at the show, please contact us to schedule a meeting.
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Kubota and Sumitomo Plan Mutual Supply of Equipment
JAPAN REPORT
Akihiro Komuro Kubota Corporation and Sumitomo Construction Machinery Co., Ltd. said they have begun discussions regarding the mutual supply of construction equipment.
Internationally, the growing demand for housing and the expected increase in construction work related to infrastructure investment and urban development, plus the increasing shortage of construction labor, are expected to create strong demand for construction equipment to improve efficiency and reduce labor requirements.
Kubota develops, manufactures, and sells small construction equipment used in urban construction, while Sumitomo Construction Machinery specializes in medium and large construction equipment used in a wide range of civil engineering and forestry work.
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Honda Forced To Reduce Car Features
FAR EAST: JAPAN REPORT
Akihiro Komuro Honda will sell some of its new vehicles without a function that detects vehicles in the blind spot and warns the driver, saying the dedicated semiconductors required for this function have been in short supply.
To solve the situation where it takes about a year from order receipt to delivery, Honda will sell the new models with the function reduced so that they can be delivered in about six months.
Sales of the new SUV model “ZR-V” began with a specification that eliminates “Blind Spot Information (BSI),” which alerts the driver by detecting vehicles diagonally behind the vehicle and displaying them in the door mirror. Since the procurement of the necessary in-vehicle semiconductors was not completed in time and the delivery period was expected to be prolonged, the company decided to sell the car without this BSI function. Although it varies by store and model, the time from order to delivery can be reduced by half, from about one year to about six months.
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Caterpillar and NMG Sign Circular Supply Chain Deal
Nouveau Monde Graphite Inc. (NMG) and Caterpillar Inc. have signed agreements to provide a zero-exhaust emission fleet, supporting infrastructure, and service for NMG’s Matawinie Mine. Caterpillar will supply heavy mining equipment to transition from traditional models to Cat zero-exhaust emission machines.
Additionally, a non-binding memorandum of understanding (MoU) has been signed between the two companies to advance commercial discussions targeting NMG’s active anode material.
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Mercedes Makes Fourth Production Shutdown in Brazil
BRAZIL/SOUTH AMERICA REPORT
Despite high demand, Mercedes announced its fourth temporary production stop at the plant in São Bernardo do Campo-SP, from July 4-15. In the announcement, Mercedes mentions the shortage of components and its effort to work with the supply chain to meet commitments with customers.
Source: Automotive Business Read The Article
PSR Analysis. The shortage of components, particularly semiconductors, is taking longer than expected and is affecting…
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AutoVAZ Stops Production at Tolyatti Plant
AutoVAZ stopped assembly of cars on all three production lines at its Tolyatti plant Nov. 12, because of parts shortages, according to the plant’s trade union representative.
The plant produces Lada Largus, Lada X-Ray, Renault Sandero, Logan, Lada Niva Legend, Lada Kalina, and Lada Granta.
AutoVAZ systematically stops its conveyors because of component shortages. To compensate, the OEM tries to implement 6 day work weeks, but these also were cancelled because of parts shortages.
AutoVAZ also stopped production for a corporate vacation July 26 – Aug. 15.
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