COLUMBUS, Ind. — Cummins has announced strong first quarter earnings, despite a drop-off in sales to the heavy- and medium-duty truck engine markets. Despite the decrease, which the company blamed on the increased cost of the new EPA-certified engines, results from Cummins’ other operations led the company to higher sales and net income for the quarter.

For the quarter, Cummins reported sales of $2.82 billion, up 5.2% from $2.68 billion during the same period in 2006. Net income of $143 million increased 5.9% from $135 million in the same period last year.

Earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) decreased 4.7% to $243 million during the first quarter. This reflects lower sales in the North American heavy-duty truck market, investment in global growth opportunities and costs associated with introducing 2007 emissions-compliant products.

“Despite the predicted decline in the North American heavy-duty truck market, we achieved outstanding results in the first quarter,” said Tim Solso, chairman and CEO of Cummins. “These results show our strategy is working, and we expect that type of performance to continue the rest of this year and beyond.

“We did what we said we would do – continued to deliver superior products and service to our customers, even in the face of significant changes to US emissions regulations. Despite our outstanding performance in the first quarter, we don’t intend to relax. We remain committed to making the 2007 product launch cycle the best in our history and we are focused on controlling our costs and providing the best possible products and service.”

TORONTO, Ont. — Export Development Canada says Ontario auto exports will drop 6% this year, costing the economy about $4.8 billion.

The agency says heavy-duty truck exports will take the biggest hit, dropping 29% to $3.93 billion as a result of the 2007 emission standards.

The report blames the slumping US vehicle market for the decline. About 90% of Canada’s auto output is shipped abroad. This year marks the third consecutive year of decline for the industry.

EDC economist Stephen Poloz said the heavy-duty truck market will begin to recover in 2008.

AKRON, Ohio — Goodyear Tire and Rubber has reported a US$174 million first quarter loss due to a decrease in North American sales and a labour dispute which has since been resolved.

When announcing the results, Goodyear spokesman Keith Price hinted at further plant closures. The company has already announced it plans to end tire production by the end of this year at its Valleyfield, Que. plant. However, the company said it will be opening a materials mixing center in June near Montreal. The company announced it will continue to seek ways to reduce costs.

“Additional savings are possible to the extent that production from the closed plants are transferred to existing facilities and/or are moved to low-cost countries,” CEO Robert Keegan said.

CALGARY, Alta. — Despite much fear to the contrary, oil and gas executives say the environmental action plan announced by the feds on Thursday won’t inhibit further growth for the industry.

The plan calls on industry to reduce emissions 18% by 2010 with the long-term goal of cutting emissions by 20% of current levels by 2020. While reaction from big business leaders was mixed on Friday, most agreed the targets were reasonable.

“We believe that what has been presented here is a good start toward lowering our emissions and hopefully stopping them and reversing them,” Kevin Meyers, head of Conoco-Phillips Inc. operations in Canada told the National Post.

“It’s one of the principles that we had going in, that this industry shouldn’t be discriminated against, and in that sense it’s a level playing field,” said Ron Brenneman, president and chief executive of Petro-Canada

Jayson Myers of the Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters said meeting the targets would be a challenge, but not impossible.

“At the end of the day these are much more realistic targets - particularly because they are intensity-based targets - than we’ve seen previously. And clearly to meet these targets industry is going to have to continue to replace old technology,” Myers told the National Post.

He called on government to provide financial incentives for companies that invest in cleaner technology. The Canadian Trucking Alliance has been calling on government for some time to provide incentives for fleets that adopt the latest generation of environmentally-friendly truck engines, but those requests have so far fallen on deaf ears.

– With files from the National Post

SODERTALJE, Sweden — While North American truck makers struggle in the wake of last year’s pre-buy, Swedish manufacturer Scania is having trouble keeping up with demand.

The company reported a 44% surge in net profit during the first quarter. The company said demand for new and used trucks is exceeding the supply in Europe and it expects that to remain the case for the foreseeable future. Sales were up 11% during the first quarter with order bookings jumping 45% to 27,637 bus and truck units.

Leif Ostling, chief executive of Scania, said there’s a shortage of capacity in the European trucking industry. Demand is especially high in central and eastern Europe, he reported. The company is ramping up production to 80,000 vehicles a year and it expects to reach 100,000 vehicles by 2009.

Scania has recently fended off a hostile takeover bid by European rival MAN AG.

Life-saving highway driving tips were presented today as part of the American Trucking Associations’ national Share the Road highway safety tour by top professional truck drivers and other safety partners.

In the past year, a poll cited traffic congestion as the #1 problem in the greater Charlotte region, and a study found that congestion in North Carolina will more than double in the next 25 years. Traffic delays in Charlotte will mirror those currently seen in Chicago, indicating the need for motorists to learn safe driving techniques.

The American Trucking Associations, the North Carolina Trucking Association, North Carolina Highway Patrol, the Governors Highway Safety Program, Charlotte Mecklenburg School driver trainers, AAA Carolinas, and the Share the Road sponsors, Mack Trucks and Michelin North America, joined the elite group of drivers to discuss highway safety on Charlotte highways. The Charlotte, NC stop at Mack Trucks Charlotte demonstrated to drivers how to share the road safely with large trucks.

“Over 90.9 percent of the workforce and many high school and college students in the Charlotte area drive to work or school each day,” said Larry Shelton, a professional truck driver from Old Dominion Freight Line. “Most automobile drivers were never taught what they can do to avoid an accident with a tractor-trailer,” Shelton added.

Featured at the event were professional truck drivers Larry Shelton and Ralph Hamilton with Old Dominion Freight Line, Tony Sifford with FedEx Ground, Jerry Avossa with FedEx Freight, and Rick Whittle, a truck driver for Bulldog Hiway Express. Those drivers are members of an elite team of million- mile, accident-free truck drivers who deliver the trucking industry’s safety messages across the country. Mr. Sifford told reporters at the media event that, “Share the Road allows me as a truck driver to give people life-saving advice. By being aware of the blind spots around trucks, all drivers can more easily avoid crashes. This information, and other safety advice, will help everyone to share the roads safely.”

Today’s presentation of Share the Road safety measures is important to area motorists because, according to national statistics:

• Around three quarters of all truck-involved fatalities are unintentionally initiated by car drivers (Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration).

• 35% of all truck-involved highway fatalities occur in a truck’s blind spots (Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration).

• Watching this demonstration will help reduce accidents and save lives.

Following the safety demonstration at Mack Trucks of Charlotte, reporters, photographers and CMS driver trainers were given tractor-trailer rides on I-85. From the truck driver’s perspective they viewed safe merging and stopping distances, and learned up close and personal some of the differences between how cars and large trucks operate on the highways. Today’s demonstration was designed to teach specific skills in order for motorists to drive safely around other automobiles and around trucks and large commercial vehicles on the highways, and to arrive safely at their destinations. (See the Share the Road safety guidelines that follow.)

The American Trucking Associations’ Share the Road is a highway safety program that delivers life-saving messages to hundreds of U.S. cities and reaches millions of motorists annually, designed to educate automobile drivers about sharing the roads safely with trucks. The program, sponsored by Mack Trucks, Inc. and Michelin North America Inc., is represented by an elite team of professional truck drivers with millions of miles of accident-free driving on America’s highways. http://www.atastr.org/

The quality of Ford, Lincoln and Mercury vehicles is virtually equal to that of Toyota and Nissan, according to the first quarter 2007 model-year Global Quality Research System (GQRS) report.

Ford, Lincoln, Mercury brand vehicles are at 1456 TGWs compared with Nissan at 1457 and Toyota at 1453 TGWs per 1,000 vehicles.

“Our latest performance continues a trend that has seen Ford Motor Company significantly improve vehicle over the last few years” said Bennie Fowler, vice president, Ford Global Quality. “We have more work to do, but there is no question that Ford Motor Company builds world-class vehicles. We can compete with anybody.”

Ford Motor Company reduced its corporate TGW rate by eight percent, bettering the overall industry improvement of two percent.

The Mercury Milan and Ford Fusion swept the first two spots for TGW leadership in the highly competitive mid-size car segment, which includes the Toyota Camry and Honda Accord. At 910, Milan had the lowest TGW level of any Ford product. Fusion recorded 1066 TGW.

Two other company models achieved segment leadership in TGW: the Ford Shelby GT500 (Sports Car) and Ford Expedition EL (Large Traditional Utility). The Lincoln Navigator leads in both TGW and customer satisfaction for the Large Premium Utility category. The Navigator and Expedition EL have customer satisfaction scores of 85 percent, tops among all Ford Motor Company vehicles.

“Our new products are launching with excellent quality, which is the result of improvements in both manufacturing and product development processes,” said Fowler. “That proves we’re doing the right things.”

Honda’s 1313 TGW was best in the survey.

First quarter 2007 model-year GQRS data was gathered from customers who registered new vehicles from Sept. 2006 through Nov. 2006 and owned their cars and trucks for three months. The new Ford Edge and Lincoln MKX crossover vehicles and F-Series Super Duty were not included in the research.

GQRS surveys have historically tracked J.D. Power studies.

In recent vehicle testing, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) gave the all-new 2007 Toyota Tundra four out of five stars in driver and passenger safety.

The same tests were performed on the 2007 Chevrolet Silverado, Ford F-150, and Dodge Ram 1500 pickup which all ended with a five star rating. NHTSA’s crash testing consist of frontal, driver, and passenger performed at 35 miles per hour into an fixed barrier.

The press has been all over the news like the paparazzi over a Britney Spear’s sighting. There’s now wonderment that one of the biggest vehicle launches in Toyota’s history may put a small dent into its sales. Will this really cause a huge decrease in Tundra sales even though the company has an outstanding reputation on building reliable vehicles?