Posted on 09/05/2012 10:13:03 AM PDT by fella
Without getting myself in trouble, let’s just say August was a little better for orders (this article is a month old).
I work in a truck factory and orders didn’t get better. We’re geared to build 150 a day but orders are at about 72 a day and our backlog is almost gone from when we had good orders a year ago.
As they say I’m Texas, the bigger the belt buckle, the smaller the d!$&.
Same may be true of trucks.
The big freight fleets are mere shadows of themselves on the roads now. Trucking relies much more on owner/operators like myself these days. Most of my contacts are holding on to their old rigs longer now due to the uncertainty in the business.
I bought a new International last year, and will hold on to it for at least 5 years.
unless things have changed you will find a class 7 (straight trucks/rv’s/buses) engine in that dodge.
When dodge first started using the 5.9 diesel the truck could get mid to upper 20’s to the gallon.
Now, all smoged up I hear it’s in the teens.
I just read the same thing about truck sales falling fast in Germany.
I'm happy with my Girlie-man truck. I've nothing to prove - besides, I'm married. Although, in full disclosure, I have to say that she hated my '95 Toyota pickup and can tolerate my Tacoma.
If I had it to do over again, I'd step up to the Tundra because the quad-cab is more comfortable, and they only get about 1 mpg less than my Taco; plus they can pull most campers that are too big for my little V6 Taco.
I have a Ford Ranger with 170,000 miles. Thinking of getting a small SUV or Toyota Tacoma in a couple of years. Also thinking of the VW Jetta Sportwagon TDI that gets 49 highway mileage.
Tacos are nice - very dependable and there are tons of folks who are really into them. I get ~18/20 in city and highway with my V6. It’s a quad-cab, so I can haul around 4 adults (2 in reasonable comfort).
If I have to nit-pick; it’s a little under-powered for pulling a camper any significant distance; even with the tow kit.
But, getting 275 miles on a tank, and filling said tank for $45-50 is nice.
That narrows you down to N.C., Ohio or Texas:-) The order intake for August did get better than July (16,200 ), for the numbers that are referenced in the article. I know the build volumes for August and September are crap though, with reductions and shut down days. Not saying it is going to get much better. I think the increase is only equivalent to 40-50/day from July. Not enough to move the needle in the current market.
2007-2009 was really hard for the truck markets in general. Thought we were going to get a pickup coming out of last year. Things have tanked in the last quarter though. Lots of smaller fleets didn’t make it.
If the government measured unemployment the same way they did in the 30’s then we would be seeing similar numbers to the great depression.-—————
We already are seeing numbers ‘similar’ to the Great Depression, even with Obama and the corrupt media’s false accounting.
23% ...(who knows what the number is of those that aren’t even counted?)
If the government measured unemployment the same way they did in the 30’s then we would be seeing similar numbers to the great depression.-—————
We already are seeing numbers ‘similar’ to the Great Depression, even with Obama and the corrupt media’s false accounting.
23% ...(who knows what the number is of those that aren’t even counted?)
The class 8 sales as precurser to the rest of the economy has held true for over 25 years that I have experianced and does not bode well for the next year or so. I’m not worried because of my seniority, if they Jonesville the plant I’ll be one of the ones sweeping the floors when they pull the tooling out.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZNVF1F23oQ
Interesting although trucks can and do last a long time. I still see a lot of Peterbuilts, KW’s, etc that were made from the mid 1950’s through the 1970’s still in service. The Peterbuilt they used in “Duel” (1972 movie) is still a common sight and it is from the 1955/60+ era. One of my neighbors, he still uses the same 195’s era Chevy dump truck that he had before I was born and I’m 46. I still see the message behind the article though that means the economy ain’t too good and people are holding onto their old trucks (and cars too). I know one man who is getting his frame welded up and fixed for a 1991 Buick instead of buying a new car, it is cheaper for him to do that. There is another man who’s 1995 Pontiac’s engine blew up and he had a 1979 Plymouth Volaire (or Dodge Aspen) he hasn’t fired up in over 15 years. He just needed a new alternator and he got it going. He can’t afford to fix the Pontiac or get a new car so the 1979 Volaire will have to do.
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