Heavy Duty Trucking, January 2019

HDT JANUARY 2019 22 WWW TRUCKINGINFO COM AROUND THE WORLD Daimler Mexico Chief assesses state of market Determined to ensure its customers can meet the challenges they face operating in Mexico Daimler is working to help influence them to turn into performance seekers who will grasp the importance of becoming early adopters of technology That was the core message delivered by Flavio E Rivera president and CEO of Daimler Vehículos Comerciales México in a late November briefing in Puerto Vallarta for journalists from Mexico the United States and Canada Rivera who was named to head Daimlers truck and bus operations in Mexico in July 2017 laid out the key challenges facing Mexican fleets including several that mirror conditions in the rest of North America Topping his list is what he called the need for operator development to help reduce the significant deficit of drivers Fleet owner Fernando Paez told HDT that the causes for the shortage were essentially the same as in the U S or Canada Long distance truck driving is hard work with much time away from home and the younger generation would rather take up technology based jobs said Paez owner and CEO of Monterrey based Transportes Olympic a leading cross border freight hauler Rivera said Mexicos aging fleet is a key obstacle to efficiency and cost control The average age of trucks is 17 years and 69 of them are not in compliance with this countrys current EPA04 emission standards Some of these trucks are 30 years old All told he said some 530000 Class 4 8 trucks are operating in Mexico He also noted the high cost of diesel south of the border Fuel alone represents 57 of the total cost of ownership of a truck here he said noting that the cost per gallon now stands at U S 350 The Daimler executive also pointed to rising industry regulations especially the tightening of emissions rules Starting this year Mexico will align its heavy duty emission limits with EPA 2010 and Euro VI standards essentially skipping the EPA 2007 step we had in the U S Transportes Olympics Paez told HDT that there is deep concern among fleets about the lack of ultra low sulfur diesel fuel in much of the ACEA Europes vehicle manufacturers association is calling for a well balanced and viable approach to writing the European Unions first CO2 standards for heavy duty trucks Joachim Drees CEO of MAN Truck Bus and chairman of ACEAs Commercial Vehicle Board of Directors said the group is urging member states to ensure that the right framework conditions are in place for this regulation Providing the necessary recharging infrastructure as well as incentives for early investments in new technologies and effective support for the market penetration of zero and lowemission trucks will be key prerequisites to deliver on ambitious CO2 targets and to encourage our customers to buy cleaner vehicles Cooper Tire Rubber Co has agreed to form a joint venture with Sailun Vietnam Co Ltd to build a plant in Vietnam with the capacity to produce more than 2 million truck and bus radial tires annually The facility will be located near Ho Chi Minh City formerly Saigon at the site of Sailun Vietnams existing operations Cooper will own 35 of the new JV Plant construction is slated to begin early next year with tire production to start in the first half of 2020 Hotlineglobal TRUCKINGS WORLDWIDE BUSINESS REPORT country let alone about where diesel exhaust fluid will be obtained on the road All these challenges have to be met for the Mexican truck markets growth to accelerate according to Rivera saying that Freightliner Trucks is in the best position to face these challenges and increase its leadership in Mexico He pointed to the Mexican rollout a few weeks ago of the new Freightliner Cascadia dubbed the Nuevo Cascadia in this market He credited that approach with Freightliners continual upward march in market share Rivera said the brands Class 6 8 market share in Mexico has risen from 24 in 2006 to where it now stands at 40 In Class 8 alone the market share is 385 up from 378 last year We have tripled our participation in the Mexican truck market in the past four years David Cullen Roger Alm right has been appointed president of Volvo Trucks and a new member of Volvo Groups Executive Board He replaces Claes Nilsson left who retires from his position effective Jan 1 PHOTO DAVID CULLEN PHOTO SVEN ERIK LINDSTRAND Daimler Mexicos Rivera reports the companys Class 6 8 market has risen to 40