Equipment

A federal advisory committee studying electronic onboard recorders did not reach a consensus on the best way to transmit hours-of-service data from the truck cab to roadside inspectors, but did offer recommendations on items including safeguarding carrier and driver privacy.

Private equity firm American Industrial Partners said it has purchased trailer manufacturer Heil Trailer International from Dover Corp. Terms were not disclosed.

Yokohama Tire Corp. said it will raise prices on its U.S. commercial vehicle tires by up to 8%, effective Feb. 1.

I have attended several meetings of American Trucking Associations’ Technology & Maintenance Council where participants have stated they simply want to know how many years a component will last.

Customers ordered 28,393 new trailers in November, a 29.5% increase from the same month a year earlier and the largest monthly total since March 2006, ACT Research Co. said.

The Senate Commerce Committee approved a bill to create a national freight program that its sponsors said would boost America’s global economic competitiveness, improve its mobility and promote energy conservation.

The overall size of the U.S. Class 8 fleet continued its downward slide since peaking in 2008, R.L. Polk & Co. said in its latest report, which showed the number of U.S. Class 8 vehicles in operation fell 4.2% in the third quarter.

Manufacturing activity in the Philadelphia region increased in December, the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia said Thursday.

Truck component makers Eaton Corp. and Dana Holding Corp. said Tuesday they will end the marketing relationship between the two companies by the middle of 2012.