This week we talk 2027 engines: covering how uncertainty around the upcoming engine regs are killing new truck order levels, how dealers and OEMs can work together to demystify the ordering process for confused customers and how Canada has temporarily realigned its regulations with the United States. We also chat with new ATD Vice Chairman Korey Neal about his business and goals for the dealer channel, showcase how Shell is formulating its PC-12 engine oils ahead of their 2027 launch, touch on our October M&A and new product roundups and request every tech take a minute to fill out ASE’s newest ‘Voice of the Technician’ survey.
Lucas: Hey, everybody. Lucas here for today’s TPS weekly news roundup. Lot of news this week. We’re going to go ahead and get started in the dealer space with Class 8 truck orders.
Preliminary order data for October was not great. FTR, ACT Research both down. One was down 36%, the other down 45% year over year in October. But both saying that demand is strong. Carriers want to invest, they want to order trucks, but they don’t know what’s going to happen with EPA 2027. We’re still waiting for the proposed rule to become the final rule. Until that happens, the data houses believe that orders are going to be fairly depressed.
[Staying] on the topic of 2027 engines. Last week I did a story about what engines are going to be available from each OEM. If you didn’t check that story, check it out. This week I had a follow-up: how do you sell these new engines? You’re in a situation now where you have two engine pathways. You have your 2027 compliant opportunity, or you have the current engine platform, which is probably non-conforming and will require an additional cost. So, how do you have conversation with customers about their opportunity and what engine is the best choice for them moving forward? I spoke with Daimler, I spoke with International, also spoke with National Lease, which has dealers across the OEM spectrum. They all said it’s really about cohesion between the dealer and the OEM. You have to make sure you have that strong relationship with your manufacturer to understand how to best sell the two opportunities, the two pathways to your customer, because each customer’s expectations are going to be different. So, check that story out.
Another story and the last story on engines, I promise, Canada has temporarily aligned its emission regulations with our proposed regulations, which are waiting to be finalized. Canada always kind of syncs up with the U.S., but they were currently out of sync because they were still committed to the regulations we had previously before amendments were put forward in July. So, check that story out.
Another story, a really cool piece on how new engine oils are formulated. Beth Colvin, our associate editor, had the chance to go to Shell’s Technology Center in Houston a couple weeks ago and see how they’re making the new PC-12 oils that are going be available in January 2027. It’s kind of like making soup was the big quote from the event. They kind of put in all the different ingredients and then they formulate it and they work on it and they test it and they determine, ‘is this going to provide the level of protection that we need in this category?’ Check that story out. Really cool story, also a really cool video, all available on the website.
Couple other things. I had a conversation with Korey Neal, who’s the CEO of K Neal Truck & Bus. First congratulations to them. They acquired four locations last week, so a big congratulations on that. But also Korey is the new Vice Chair of ATD. He was elected last month. He’ll be taking office officially in February at the 2027 ATD Show. We spoke about what Korey sees as important for ATD, why advocacy is important, why cooperation, why all dealers need to really work as a team to push the industry forward. Really cool conversation and chat with Korey. If you didn’t see that story yet, please check that out.
And then lastly, our October M&A roundup is available. Our October product roundup is available. And ASE is doing its ‘Voice of the Technician’ survey again. Their annual survey. If you are a technician, please fill that out. If you are a service manager or a manager and you manage technicians, please make sure they have access to that survey. The more technicians fill that survey out, the better quality the data is. ATD uses that data to determine — sorry, not ATD, ASE — uses that data to determine how they support the channel, how they support businesses and tech schools. So the more technicians we have submitting that survey, the stronger it’s going to be.
As always, everything is available on our website, all these stories available. Please make sure you check them out. Please like and subscribe to these videos so you get them each month. Have a great weekend and we’ll see you next week. Thanks everyone. Bye.
