Members of the 2011 Kenworth Service Council members are: Chairman – John Gibson, Truck Enterprises, Harrisonburg, Va.; Wayne Beal, Kenworth Sales Company, Spokane, Wash.; Michael Donnelly, MHC Kenworth, Little Rock, Ark.; Boe Gabel, Kenworth of Pennsylvania, New Stanton, Pa.; Michel Nault, Kenworth Montreal, St-Laurent, Que.; Kyle Platt, Fort Wayne Truck Center, Fort Wayne, Ind.; Richard Williamson, Kenworth of Birmingham, Birmingham, Ala.; and Kenworth Dealer Council representative Tim Murphy, MHC Kenworth, Kansas City, Mo.

Kenworth’s quality medium duty products, combined with excellent dealer support, contributed to Kenworth receiving the 2010 J.D. Power and Associates award for “Highest in Customer Satisfaction for Medium Duty Truck Dealer Service.”*

Kenworth dealers sell genuine Kenworth parts and provide all makes parts and service through more than 300 locations in the United States and Canada. Information on the Kenworth PremierCare® parts program is available at www.kenworth.com under Parts and Services.

To help support customers, Kenworth provides a complete dealer list on its website at www.kenworth.com. In addition, the Kenworth PremierCare® Customer Center (1-800-KW-ASSIST) is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The service requires no registration fee for emergency roadside assistance and is available to any truck brand. The Kenworth PremierCare Customer Center handles emergency roadside assistance calls and schedules service for preventive maintenance customers, among other services.

Kenworth Truck Company is the manufacturer of The World’s Best® heavy and medium duty trucks. Kenworth is an industry leader in providing fuel-saving technology solutions that help increase fuel efficiency and reduce emissions. The company’s dedication to the green fleet includes aerodynamic trucks, compressed and liquefied natural gas trucks, and medium duty diesel-electric hybrids. Kenworth is the only truck manufacturer to receive the Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean Air Excellence award in recognition of its environmentally friendly products. In addition, the fuel-efficient Kenworth T700 equipped with the low-emission PACCAR MX engine was named the 2011 Commercial Heavy Duty Truck of the Year by the American Truck Dealers. Kenworth’s Internet home page is at www.kenworth.com. Kenworth. A PACCAR Company.

The brochure offers key features, advantages and benefits information in sections covering the Kenworth T700, T660, T800, W900, and T440 and T470, Medium Duty, Off-Highway and PACCAR Engines. Colorful photograph shows the products in various applications.

The Kenworth Truck Models brochure also includes black and white photographs and interesting information on Kenworth trucks from throughout the company’s history. Current customer support, including Kenworth PremierCare®, PACCAR Financial and PacLease programs, are included.

As a bonus, the entire Kenworth Truck Models brochure folds out to a large poster nearly 2 feet wide by 3 feet tall with color graphics that illustrate Kenworth’s key configurations in categories covering Heavy Duty, Sleepers, Off-Highway, Medium Duty and PACCAR Engines.

Kenworth Truck Company is the manufacturer of The World’s Best® heavy and medium duty trucks. Kenworth is an industry leader in providing fuel-saving technology solutions that help increase fuel efficiency and reduce emissions. The company’s dedication to the green fleet includes aerodynamic trucks, compressed and liquefied natural gas trucks, and medium duty diesel-electric hybrids. Kenworth is the only truck manufacturer to receive the Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean Air Excellence award in recognition of its environmentally friendly products. In addition, the fuel-efficient Kenworth T700 equipped with the low-emission PACCAR MX engine was named the 2011 Commercial Heavy Duty Truck of the Year by the American Truck Dealers. Kenworth is also the recipient of the 2010 J.D. Power and Associates award for Highest in Customer Satisfaction for Medium Duty Truck Dealer Service. Kenworth’s Internet home page is at www.kenworth.com. Kenworth. A PACCAR Company.

Given annually, the award recognizes the transportation provider that has demonstrated leadership within the transportation industry and that has made a notable effort to support NASSTRAC throughout the previous calendar year.          

“On behalf of the Old Dominion family, we are honored to receive the Ovation Award,” said David David Congdon, president and CEO of Old Dominion, holding the 2011 Ovation Award, presented by NASSTRAC.Congdon, president and CEO of Old Dominion. “NASSTRAC’s Logistics Conference & Expo is a great opportunity for us to come together as an industry and discuss the latest trends. We have supported NASSTRAC for decades, and congratulate them on another successful conference this year.”           

Old Dominion had a significant presence at the event, held April 17-20 in Orlando, Fla. Congdon participated in the Motor Carrier CEO panel on April 18, and the carrier also sponsored the conference and hosted a booth at the event.

For more information about Old Dominion, visit www.odfl.com or call (800) 432-6335.

 

About Old Dominion Freight Line

Old Dominion Freight Line Inc. (NASDAQ: ODFL) is a national less-than-truckload motor carrier providing one-to-five day service among six regions in the United States and next-day and second-day service within these regions. Through its four product groups, OD-Domestic, OD-Expedited, OD-Global and OD-Technology, the Company offers an array of innovative products and services that provide direct service to 48 states within the Southeast, Gulf Coast, Northeast, Midwest, Central and West regions of the country. In addition to domestic less-than-truckload services, the Company offers assembly and distribution services as well as LCL and FCL delivery services to and from all of North America, Central America, South America and the Far East. The Company also offers a broad range of expedited and logistical services for both its domestic and global markets, and for more than 75 years, Old Dominion has been helping the world keep promises.

In the first quarter, the Company's gross revenues totaled $446.1 million, a 49.1% increase from gross revenues of $299.3 million reported for the first quarter ended March 31, 2010. Income from continuing operations for the quarter was $7.3 million, or $0.19 per diluted share, compared with income from continuing operations of $1.9 million, or $0.05 per diluted share, in the quarter ended March 31, 2010. The Company reported net income for the quarter of $7.3 million, or $0.19 per diluted share, compared with a net income of $2.2 million, or $0.06 per diluted share in the first quarter of 2010.

The Company delivered 1,345 new heavy-duty trucks, 923 new medium-duty commercial vehicles and 1,107 used commercial vehicles during the first quarter of 2011, compared to 969 new heavy-duty trucks, 611 new medium-duty trucks and 686 used trucks during the first quarter of 2010. Parts, service and body shop sales revenue was $145.6 million in the first quarter of 2011, compared to $101.8 million in the first quarter of 2010.

"We are excited with the performance of our parts, service and body shop business, which achieved record high monthly revenues in March," said W.M. "Rusty" Rush, Rush Enterprises Inc. President and Chief Executive Officer. "Despite lost operating days caused by inclement weather conditions throughout most of the country in January and February, we were able to achieve a very strong 109% percent absorption rate for the quarter."

"As expected, deliveries of Class 8 trucks remained challenging in the first quarter. However, we are greatly encouraged by the sustained increase in U.S. Class 8 new truck orders. If orders continue at the current pace, we could see 2011 U.S. Class 8 truck sales in the range of 180,000 to 200,000 units, compared to 110,000 units in 2010, with deliveries increasing as early as the second quarter," Mr. Rush explained.

"With confidence in our growth strategy, we completed two strategic acquisitions in the Southeast this quarter. In February, we acquired Heintzelman's Ford in Orlando, Florida, adding the fourth Ford franchise to our dealership network. In March, we acquired the International, Hino, Isuzu, UD, IC Bus and Workhorse franchises from Asbury Automotive's Nalley Motor Trucks in metro-Atlanta. The Nalley Motor Trucks acquisition is significant in building our Navistar Division, which has grown since its inception last May to include15 full service dealerships with 2 dedicated collision centers. We are strongly committed to working with Navistar to build a successful network and look forward to opportunities to work together in the future," concluded Rusty Rush.

"We are pleased to welcome many new employees into the Rush Enterprises organization from our newly acquired locations. We remain committed to integrating our 'The Customer is the Boss' philosophy into our new dealership locations and extending our reputation for excellence in customer service in these markets," said W. Marvin Rush, Chairman and Founder of Rush Enterprises.

Conference Call Information

Rush Enterprises will host its quarterly conference call to discuss earnings for the first quarter on Thursday, April 21, 2011, at 11 a.m. Eastern/10 a.m. Central.  The call can be heard live by dialing 877-638-4557 (US) or 914-495-8522 (International) or via the Internet at investor.rushenterprises.com/events.cfm. 

For those who cannot listen to the live broadcast, the webcast will be available on our website at the above link until July 15, 2011. Listen to the audio replay until April 28, 2011 by dialing 800-642-1687 (US) or 706-645-9291 (International) and entering the Conference ID 58551935.

About Rush Enterprises, Inc.

Rush Enterprises, Inc. owns and operates the largest network of commercial vehicle dealerships in the United States, representing truck and bus manufacturers including Peterbilt, International, Hino, Isuzu, Ford, UD, Blue Bird, IC, Diamond and Elkhart. The Company's vehicle centers are strategically located in high traffic areas on or near major highways in 14 states throughout the Southern and Western United States. These one-stop centers offer an integrated approach to meeting customer needs -- from sales of new and used vehicles to aftermarket parts, service and body shop operations plus a wide array of financial services, including financing, insurance, leasing and rental. Rush Enterprises' operations also provide vehicle up-fitting, chrome accessories and tires. For more information, please visit www.rushenterprises.com.

Princeton, NJ, and London, UK -ALK Technologies, Inc., a leading provider of navigation, routing, mileage and mapping solutions for consumers and the transportation/logistics industry, announced today that Barry J. Glick has joined the company as its Chief Executive Officer.

"We are very pleased to have Barry join ALK," said Katherine Kornhauser, President of ALK Technologies. "We were looking for a CEO with a successful track record of leading fast growing technology companies.  With his proven leadership experience in navigation and transportation, we know that Barry is the right person to guide ALK through its next growth phase."

“It’s appropriate that we’re meeting in Phoenix—the city named after a mythical bird that rises from the ashes to begin life anew,” said Treadway in remarks today at the 48th annual ATD Convention and Expo, which runs through Monday at the Phoenix Convention Center.

“Our industry has taken many punches,” added Treadway, a third-generation dealer and president of Kenworth Sales Co. in Salt Lake City. “In addition to the economic downturn, we’ve had to weather a series of regulatory changes that magnified the ups and downs of our already cyclical business.” 

Treadway highlighted five sectors of commercial truck retailing that indicate an economic recovery is underway for 2011:

(1) Freight volumes are rising. – “Freight rates are pushing upward with more industry leading fleets announcing rate increases, giving our customers breathing room and the ability to generate profits,” Treadway said. “Experts now tell us that the manufacturing sector has emerged as our recovery’s leader. That’s good news for [dealers] because that means more freight.” (The TransCore North American Freight Index for February increased 65 percent over the prior year. The American Trucking Associations Freight Tonnage Index has improved 15 straight months to reach pre-recession levels.)

(2) Used-truck demandis boosting prices. – Treadway said the decline of truck sales over the past three years has resulted in about 70,000 fewer Class 3 to 8 trucks sold in the United States and Canada, while the average equipment age continued to rise in the first quarter of 2011, according to R.L. Polk. A buyer’s definition of what’s an ‘acceptable’ piece of used equipment has changed, he said. With used trucks in demand and harder to find, the average retail price for used trucks has climbed as much as 20 percent in 2010, he said.

(3) Parts and service business is improving. – “At the same time, we saw our parts and service business volume gradually improve. The volume was erratic—two good weeks of higher shop capacity, followed by a poor one—but with each month the good weeks improved and became more consistent,” Treadway said. “Our customers’ extended replacement cycles finally met the reality of deferred maintenance.”

(4) Truck rental and leasing defies seasonal declines. – “The next sign of improved fortunes came in the rental and leasing arena,” he said. “Many dealers saw rental utilization rates defy seasonal declines and hover month-after-month at 90 percent or higher.” Treadway said customers like the flexibility that leasing and rentals provide because of the uncertain economy. “If a ‘double-dip’ recession materialized, they could quickly downsize and minimize their exposure,” he said.

(5) New-truck orders are increasing. – Treadway said orders for new trucks were up in the first quarter 2011, and manufacturers and suppliers began recalling furloughed workers, expanding and adding shifts. “Some dealers are cautiously recalling workers, resurrecting technician apprentice programs, adding swing shifts and increasing stock levels,” he said.

“The economic recovery is not a sure thing, and could be easily derailed by volatile fuel prices, an unpredictable regulatory environment, international political upheaval and global disasters,” Treadway cautioned. “We need to rebuild inventories, shore up our cash flow, review wage rates and sell some trucks.”

In the legislative and regulatory arenas, Treadway said ATD and truck dealers have an aggressive agenda for the coming year, such as:

• Shaping the nation’s first-ever fuel economy and greenhouse gas emission standards for commercial trucks;
• Expanding the Environmental Protection Agency’s SmartWay program to include more fuel-efficient trucks;
• Passage of new highway funding; and
• Introducing federal incentives for new-truck sales.

“The need for us to gather together and use our voice is more critical than ever,” Treadway said. “As they say in Washington, if you’re not at the table, you’re on the menu.”

As a first step, ATD has been working with truck dealers all over the country to bring members of Congress to dealerships to discuss how federal legislation affects truck retailing. Last month, Treadway had the unique opportunity to host both of his U.S. senators when Orrin Hatch and Mike Lee toured his dealership in Salt Lake City.

Treadway urged dealers to reach out to their members of Congress and invite them to their dealerships to learn more about the truck retailing industry.

About ATD

Founded in 1970, the ATD division of the National Automobile Dealers Association is the only national organization representing dealers selling and servicing new medium- and heavy-duty trucks. For more information, visit www.ATD.org.

“It’s a great honor for Kenworth Truck Company to receive the prestigious Heavy Duty Commercial Truck of the Year award presented by the American Truck Dealers,” said Bill Kozek, Kenworth general manager and PACCAR vice president. “The Kenworth T700 with the PACCAR MX engine provides a winning combination that offers high performance, outstanding driver comfort, enhanced fuel efficiency and reduced emissions. We’re proud that the T700 and PACCAR MX engine are an important part of The World’s Best® product line.”

The winner was selected by a judging panel of journalists from leading truck publications in North America. Major judging criteria included innovation, design, driver and owner satisfaction, ease of maintenance, and safety.

The T700 is the latest evolution in Kenworth’s distinguished history of industry-leading, fuel-efficient trucks. Designed through the extensive use of computational fluid dynamics, Kenworth optimized the T700’s aerodynamic integration while carefully sculpting a distinctive, eye-catching appearance. As a result, the Kenworth T700 has the lowest aerodynamic drag of any Kenworth truck in company history, and has earned Environmental Protection Agency SmartWay^SM program certification. In addition to modern aerodynamic styling, the T700 has best in class forward lighting and excellent serviceability features.

The Kenworth T700 targets over the road and team driver operations with its excellent driver comfort features. The T700’s spacious, wide cab has nearly 30 inches between the driver and passenger seats for convenient access to the 75-inch AERODYNE® sleeper and its soaring 8-foot cathedral ceiling.  The roomy interior provides an industry-leading, 60-plus cubic feet of storage space.

The T700’s ergonomic cab features modern dash styling, state-of-art multiplexed instrumentation, and Kenworth Driver Information Center. To further enhance the award-winning T700, the new Kenworth NavPlus®  – a PACCAR proprietary in-dash, PC-based system with true truck-specific navigation, vehicle data, hands-free phoning, audio controls, camera inputs, roadside assistance, and optional Internet access  –  will be available this year.

The PACCAR MX engine is available with a horsepower range of 380-hp to 485-hp and torque up to 1,750 lb-ft on selected Kenworth Class 8 models. This power range, combined with excellent fuel efficiency, high reliability and durability, lightweight design, and low cost of ownership, makes the PACCAR MX engine an ideal choice for Kenworth customers operating in many over-the-road, pickup and delivery, and vocational applications.

The PACCAR MX engine employs innovative high strength, yet lightweight components and premium material to achieve superior durability and power-to-weight performance. The technologically advanced design reduces in-cab noise levels significantly for a more comfortable driving environment.

The very low-emission PACCAR MX engine achieves U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and California Air Resources Board (CARB) certification, and meets the stringent emission standards of 0.2 grams per brake horsepower hour of NOx and 0.01 grams per brake horsepower hour of particulate matter. 

The Kenworth T700 and PACCAR MX will be featured at 10 p.m. (EDT) Tuesday, April 19, on the new “Speedmakers” television series on Speed™. The one-hour program was filmed at the Kenworth plant in Chillicothe, Ohio, where the T700 is assembled.

More information on the Kenworth T700 is available at www.kenworth.com. More information on the PACCAR MX engine is available at the PACCAR engine website at www.paccarengines.com.

Founded in 1970, the ATD division of the National Automobile Dealers Association is a national trade organization representing more than 2,000 dealers selling new medium duty and heavy duty trucks. For more information, visit www.atd.org.

Kenworth Truck Company is the manufacturer of The World’s Best® heavy and medium duty trucks. Kenworth is an industry leader in providing fuel-saving technology solutions that help increase fuel efficiency and reduce emissions. The company’s dedication to the green fleet includes aerodynamic trucks, compressed and liquefied natural gas trucks, and medium duty diesel-electric hybrids. Kenworth is the only truck manufacturer to receive the Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean Air Excellence award in recognition of its environmentally friendly products. In addition, Kenworth is the recipient of the 2010 J.D. Power and Associates award for Highest in Customer Satisfaction for Medium Duty Truck Dealer Service. Kenworth’s Internet home page is at www.kenworth.com. Kenworth. A PACCAR Company.