Equipment

The U.S. Class 8 truck fleet appears to have halted a lengthy decline, according to new registration data for the last quarter of 2010, and fleet executives, truck dealers and analysts all said vehicle sales should continue to rise.

The retread business is booming at Snider Tire Inc. — so much so that the Greensboro, N.C., company is building a sixth plant to fulfill its half-million yearly orders for Michelin retreads.

Manufacturing activity in the Philadelphia region improved in February month for a fifth straight month, the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia said Thursday.

January orders for new Class 8 trucks skyrocketed 320% to 27,000 from the year-ago level, a clear sign that the industry will enjoy a stronger 2011, two research organizations said last week.

The 700-member Truckload Carriers Association plans to oppose a proposed federal mandate requiring the use of electronic onboard recorders because there is no evidence that the technology will improve highway safety, the association’s president said.

Cummins Inc. maintained its market-share lead in Class 8 engines during 2010, although Detroit Diesel Corp. grabbed a bigger portion of the market, according to WardsAuto.com.

Yokohama Tire Corp. said Friday it will increase prices by up to 8% on all of its consumer tires, which include passenger, performance and light-truck tires, effective March 1.

Cummins Inc.’s board approved the repurchase of up to $1 billion in stock to “improve shareholder value,” the company said Tuesday.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration last week proposed requiring nearly all interstate commercial motor carriers to install electronic data recorders to monitor their drivers’ hours-of-service compliance.