Equipment

The year ahead promises to be a busy one for the equipment sector, as key trends such as used truck pricing and availability, parts sales, freight rates, truck electrification and new, more robust engine oils intermingle with challenging supply and demand conditions — including rising costs for raw materials — that are affecting orders for new trucks and trailers.

Ford Motor Co.’s surging stock has given it a market value greater than rival General Motors Co. for the first time in more than five years.

Japan’s industrial production jumped by a record in November, adding to evidence that a manufacturing recovery from supply chain snags was solidly underway before the omicron variant started to spread around the globe.

At the Port of Tacoma, leaders hope a new project to build added storage capacity for containers will help operations run more smoothly as ports across the West Coast are now facing a surge with activity resuming.

Canada plans to formally join Mexico in calling for an arbitration panel to resolve a dispute with the U.S. over how to interpret rules governing the origin of vehicle parts.

Orders placed with U.S. factories for durable goods rose in November by the most in six months, exceeding forecasts and pointing to steady demand that will help drive production growth in early 2022.

The trucking industry has undergone further consolidation amid a surge of acquisitions, and software has enabled much of that.

Commercial vehicle manufacturers Daimler Truck, Traton Group and Volvo Group announced they signed a binding agreement to create a joint venture to install and operate a high-performance public charging network for battery-electric, heavy-duty longhaul trucks and coaches across Europe.

Iveco joined driverless truck technology company Plus for the launch of an autonomous pilot program in Europe and China, the companies announced Dec. 20.