Your Sept. 8 Pre-Trip: Decline in heavy-duty truck orders

Sept. 8, 2015
Here are five things worth knowing today:

Here are five things worth knowing today:

  1. Heavy-duty truck orders have fallen to a two-year low, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal. Citing transportation equipment group FTR, the Journal said trucking companies placed 19,550 net orders for heavy-duty trucks in August, “the lowest level since September 2013, based on the group’s preliminary estimate.” According to the report, that was 18% less than July orders and 44% off January’s high of 35,000 orders.

  2. The northbound bridge on I-65 in Indiana, which has been closed for the past month, is now open, the Indy Star reports. The bridge, over Wildcat Creek, has been closed since Aug. 7 and has interrupted traffic along 37 miles of 65 between Lebanon and Lafayette, according to the Star. The state’s Department of Transportation closed the bridge after it had sunk several inches after workers began driving steel piles to widen the existing piers, the Star said. The DOT had expected the bridge to reopen in mid-September.

  3. The Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach are implementing truck appointment systems, according to CCJ. According to the report, the appointments will be mandatory for import containers at participating terminals. “The five terminals currently operating appointment systems have agreed to adopt the same requirements and five more terminals will introduce appointment systems next year with the same guidelines,” CCJ said.

  4. Connecticut’s Department of Transportation is holding a bridge party to celebrate the grand opening of the southbound lanes of I-95’s Pearl Harbor Memorial Bridge in New Haven, the Connecticut Post reports. The event will be Saturday, Sept. 19, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. and will allow pedestrians to walk on the bridge before it is open for traffic this fall. The Post has more.

  5. The St. Croix River bridge opening has been delayed, according to the Star Tribune. The Tribune reports that the project, which is one of the largest construction projects in Minnesota, won’t reopen in 2016 because “building it has become more complicated than expected.” The Tribune has more.

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