Daimler, European Companies See Fuel Hurting Trucking

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ruck maker DaimlerChrysler AG and some of its European competitors expect demand for new commercial vehicles to stagnate in the region next year as fuel prices remain near an all-time high, which could lead to more losses or bankruptcies for truck buyers, Bloomberg reported.

For the past three years, DaimlerChrysler — the world's largest truck maker and parent of leading U.S. truck maker Freightliner LLC —and Europe’s MAN AG have been among commercial-vehicle makers reporting surging profits as economic growth spurred worldwide demand to move freight, Bloomberg said.

But diesel, the main fuel used in trucks and the most second most expensive cost after labor for transportation companies, has doubled in price over that period.

In the U.S. and Europe, sales will remain on the same high level as this year, Andreas Renschler, who heads DaimlerChrysler's commercial-vehicle unit, told Bloomberg at an Amsterdam transportation conference.

But he said the business was cyclical business and the market cannot go up all the time, Bloomberg reported.