This week we congratulate TLG, also known as The Larson Group, for winning our 2025 Successful Dealer Award over stiff competition from Dobbs Truck Group, Selking International, Truckworx and Vanguard Truck Centers. We also investigate President Trump’s new Section 232 tariffs on heavy trucks and see what our industry told the administration about the possible tariffs before they were levied; we touch on September’s preliminary new truck order totals and how they show how depressed the carrier market still is; and conclude with a run through of Monday’s recalls and what work will be required by Isuzu and Volvo dealers coming up.
Lucas: Hey everybody, Lucas here excited to do another TPS Weekly News Roundup. I say excited because we had an awesome week this week, Monday, Tuesday and then Wednesday we were in Nashville for the annual Successful Dealer Award Summit. We had the opportunity to sit down with some of the greatest dealers in our industry and talk about our industry, talk about our challenges or opportunities, how we’re making it through a very difficult 2025. And then on Tuesday evening, we crowned the winner of our 2025 Successful Dealer Award.
If you didn’t see that story, you didn’t catch the video, we did have a video, the winner was TLG Trucks, which is the 26-location Peterbilt dealer headquartered in Springfield, Mo. Huge congratulations to the TLG Peterbilt team on their win. Very deserving. Also incredibly deserving, our other finalists: Dobbs Truck Group; Selking International; Truckworx; Vanguard Truck Centers. I want to thank all of them for their participation and really congratulate them for what they’re doing for our industry.
We also had a big story that published late last Friday and really hit on the website Monday and Tuesday this week regarding President Trump’s new 25% tariff on heavy-duty trucks. Because the new tariff is a Section 232 tariff, there was a public investigation by the government into the validity of these tariffs and whether or not they were required before they were published. So, we have comments from Paccar, Volvo, Daimler, International, the American Trucking Associations, the Truckload Carriers Association, ATD, the Chamber of Commerce — just about anybody you think would’ve had a comment on the tariffs and their validity did comment in advance of them being announced last week. So, a really great story you should check out there.
Next, Class 8 preliminary truck orders for September were announced on Thursday. Estimates were somewhere in the range of 20 to 21,000 units, which is well above where we were in August, but where well below where we would historically be in September, which is the start of the order board season for the next year. The 10-year average has been around 29 to 30,000 units. So, to be at the 20 to 21,000 mark shows that we’re well behind where we would want to be and hope to be right now.
Just a couple quick things before we jump off. Isuzu had a recall of 11,000 units on Monday. If you’re an Isuzu dealer, I’m sure you’re preparing for that. Volvo had two recalls impacting about 6,000 units. So, if you’re a Volvo dealer, hopefully you’re preparing for that.
I hope everyone had a great weekend, or a great week I should say. Next week TPS will be at the National Trailer Dealers Association (NTDA) Convention Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday. So, there will be stories coming out of that event. We’ll be announcing our 2025 Trailblazer Award winner Thursday night at the NTDA convention so check out the website next Friday for that.
Be sure to like and subscribe to these videos. Subscribe to our newsletter. Keep up with everything that’s happening in the TPS world and in the world of your business. Have a great weekend, and we will see you next week. Thanks everyone. Bye.
