What trucking SEGMENT best in next 2-3 years?

[Frogman]

I just read in yesterdays Wall Street Journal that Volvo is laying off about 1/3 (~1000) of its workforce at their plant in Virgina. This is in addition to the 500 laid off at the Mack plant in Maryland.

Class 8 truck sales are going to take a dive next year. No one wants to be a paying Beta tester for all the new emissions control gear. If this plays out the same as when the lead was taken out of gas in the early 80s for cars we are in for a few years of grief.

Ian

Sorry but I don't understand any of that.

Sounds important.

Can you explain in other terms? What for example is a Class 8 truck? etc

[BADLIONSFAN]

LTL is nice if you don't have many bills to pay and you have some money saved up. That on-call mess is horrible I bet. I'm looking into some LTL companies myself though. That otr mess would probably mess me up mentally. OTR is last resort for me.

i drive for an ltl, and i'm not on call.

[bowslap]

I just read in yesterdays Wall Street Journal that Volvo is laying off about 1/3 (~1000) of its workforce at their plant in Virgina. This is in addition to the 500 laid off at the Mack plant in Maryland.

Class 8 truck sales are going to take a dive next year. No one wants to be a paying Beta tester for all the new emissions control gear. If this plays out the same as when the lead was taken out of gas in the early 80s for cars we are in for a few years of grief.

Ian

Sorry but I don't understand any of that.



Sounds important.

Can you explain in other terms? What for example is a Class 8 truck? etc

A class 8 truck is a "Big Truck"....tractor, or semi...

"paying Beta tester"....Beta was a home media system that tanked big time(it's competition was VHS)....colorful description for being in a no-win situation...

Until the advent of unleaded gasoline, cars ran on gasoline with lead additives. This gas, while great for combustion, and added lubricity for the valvetrain, was horrible for air quality. When unleaded gas was introduced, most cars on the road were still from the era of leaded fuels.

With the subtraction of the lead additives, this fuel didn't provide the lubrication the valves and valveseats needed.....lots of failures. If you've watched old-car restoration shows, when they refer to installing hardened valve seats in the cylinder heads to be able to run on today's gasolines, this is the reason why.

The introduction of ultra-low sulfur Diesel fuel insures the eventual demise of the older trucks on the roads......once again, it's a lubricity issue.

Hope this helps.....

[Splitter]

BNSF is hiring a lot of people in WA. because of how much freight there moving.

[honestashol]

"paying Beta tester"....Beta was a home media system that tanked big time(it's competition was VHS)....colorful description for being in a no-win situation.....

Just to spilt a hair, Alpha testers are the first testers. The R&D guys, manufacturers, safety agencies, etc. Beta testers are secondary, either volunteers (Yahoo and Google) or consumers (unleaded gas, industry specific equipment, computers).

To illustrate the no-win situation, imagine buying Preparation G.