April 17, 2019
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President Trump Visits Nuss Truck & Equipment in Minnesota

Bob Nuss (right), president of Nuss Truck and Equipment in Burnsville, Minn., hosts President Donald Trump at his dealership for a roundtable discussion on tax reform on April 15, 2019.

American Truck Dealers (ATD) member Bob Nuss, president of Nuss Truck & Equipment in Burnsville, Minn., hosted President Donald Trump and senior White House advisors for a roundtable discussion at his dealership on April 15. The meeting focused on tax reform, the economy and the positive effects of tax relief on small businesses.

“It was an extremely high honor to have President Trump visit our Burnsville shop. Our employees were proud to show off the facility and I couldn’t be more grateful to the president for the chance to share with him our success story, the positive results of tax reform for our small business, and to discuss issues facing our industry,” said Nuss, who was named Truck Dealer of the Year in 2017.

One issue of importance to Nuss and ATD is the repeal of the 12-percent federal excise tax (FET) levied on the sale of most new heavy-duty trucks and trailers. ATD, along with the Modernize the Truck Fleet coalition, is calling on Congress to repeal the onerous tax, which discourages the deployment of the newest, safest and most environmentally-friendly trucks. 

Nuss delivered a letter to President Trump asking for his support for FET repeal, and included an infographic showing the historical growth and expansion of the FET, and World War I-style posters promoting repeal of the 102-year-old tax. Click here for the full article.

To watch Monday’s event at the dealership, click here.
Source: ATD

Top Stories

Class 8 Sales Surpass 22,000 in March
U.S. Class 8 retail sales in March climbed above 22,000 for the first time this year, WardsAuto.com reported. All truck makers but one notched gains. The sales total of 22,834 was 17.8% higher compared with 19,384 a year earlier, according to Ward’s. For some analysts, March’s volume brought a sigh of relief. “I would honestly love to get really excited about it. The reality is, it is about time. We have been waiting on this for awhile,” Steve Tam, vice president of ACT Research, told Transport Topics.
Source: Transport Topics

ATD Truck Beat: Sales of Class 4-8 Trucks Up 12.7%
Commercial vehicle sales continued to post gains in the first quarter of 2019 with sales up by 12.7%. Through March, medium-duty truck sales were up 2.0% compared to this time last year. Meanwhile, heavy-duty trucks posted a very solid sales gain of 24.5%. For most manufacturers, build slots for 2019 were filled early in the year. Although truck orders have slowed in recent months from high levels last year, long order backlogs should lead to robust sales through 2019. As the year progresses, we expect tight supplies of new class 8 trucks to prop up values and keep demand steady for used trucks.
Source: ATD

Market Conditions Unfold as Freight Season Ramps Up
In the April edition of Guidelines, a monthly market update, J.D. Power analysts said the Class 8 market is starting to look more historically typical. Monthly depreciation in the first three months of the year is greater than last year, and economic factors driving demand are less hot. “The industry still needs more new trucks than have been delivered, but it’s likely that total demand for new and used trucks this year will either be similar to or less than last year,” said J.D. Power's senior analyst and product manager for commercial vehicles. “This means more trucks will eventually start to be traded-in instead of kept in service.” Visser added that freight-focused economic data will be critical in upcoming weeks. “If data is stable or mildly off last year, the industry should be able to manage any increase in used truck volume. But if data turns more negative, expect a market shift.” Click here for Guidelines.
Source: J.D. Power

ACT Research: Equipment Supply-Freight Demand Imbalance Coming
A freight recession is not out of the question, according to ACT Research’s (ACT) latest release of the North American Commercial Vehicle OUTLOOK, but the easier call is a rate recession as truck supply-freight demand fall out of balance. “While there is a very low probability and no expectation of an economy-wide recession in 2019, freight-related data points have been sufficiently bad in breadth and duration to note that a freight recession is possible,” said Kenny Vieth, ACT’s president and senior analyst.
Source: Fleet Owner

Nikola Unveils Nikola Two Hydrogen-Electric Hybrid Truck
At the Nikola World event in Scottsdale, Arizona, Nikola Motor Co. showed off two new vehicles, the Nikola Two hydrogen electric Class 8 truck and the Nikola Tre, designed for the European market. The Nikola Two and Nikola Tre will be available with the company’s hydrogen-electric hybrid powertrain as well as all-electric versions for short-haul urban applications. The trucks feature up to 1,000 horsepower and 2,000 ft.-lbs. of torque. To accommodate the hydrogen-electric hybrid system, Nikola emphasized that the vehicles were built around the fuel cell.
Source: Heavy Duty Trucking

Quotable 

“It was an extremely high honor to have President Trump visit our Burnsville shop. Our employees were proud to show off the facility and I couldn’t be more grateful to the president for the chance to share with him our success story, the positive results of tax reform for our small business, and to discuss issues facing our industry.”

-- ATD member Bob Nuss, president of Nuss Truck & Equipment in Burnsville, Minn., ATD Blog, April 17

New ATD Infographic Exposes FET’s Historic Growth

In the century since its inception, the federal excise tax (FET) on heavy-duty trucks has followed a winding road. As many truck dealers know, the FET was first enacted to help pay for World War I. But did you know it was almost repealed in 1975? Or that the rate has increased six-fold since 1932?

Luckily, you don’t need to pour over archives of the Congressional Record to find out, because ATD has produced an easy to read reference on the 102-year history of the FET. The infographic provides a clear timeline showing how, over the course of a century, the FET on heavy-duty trucks has been raised and lowered; repealed and reinstituted; dedicated and extended.

Click here to learn more about ATD’s efforts to repeal the FET, or by contact Laura Perrotta, ATD senior director of legislative affairs, at lperrotta@nada.org or 202.547.5500.
Source: ATD

The Deadline to Participate in NADA/ATD Dealership Workforce Study is May 15

The NADA/ATD Dealership Workforce Study is open for enrollment for both car and commercial truck dealerships. Stay ahead of the demographic curve with survey results that can be used to fine-tune employee compensation and benefits, improve retention and more. New for 2019: The survey – through dealer feedback – has been updated to obtain more insight into pay structure for variable operations positions.

Just for participating, NADA/ATD member dealerships will receive two complimentary reports: (1) A custom report which includes a Workforce Management Scorecard that compares and ranks your dealership against peer-level dealerships on key metrics such as compensation, retention and turnover; and (2) the 2019 Dealership Workforce Study National & Regional Trends in Compensation, Benefits & Retention Report. In addition, participating dealerships – for up to one year – will receive access to the Database Search Tool where they will find all the data submitted from past workforce studies.

The deadline to submit data is May 15, 2019. To participate in the Dealer Workforce Study, click here. Questions can be directed to Joe Fleming at 703.448.5891 or workforcestudy@nada.org.
Source: NADA/ATD