Boydstun Screw Actuators Selling Well

Sources in the industry report that Boydstun is in the process of closing a huge deal that will give a boost to their screw actuator auto transport trailer line. They're already selling around four screw trailers for every hydraulic car hauler!

Must be nice to be a car hauler salesman these days!

My back-of-the-envelope calculation puts the gross of this one deal at over $17 million. I'd take 5% of that any day of the week.

Looks like there's a big deal in the works from Honda in rail auto transport, too. We'll have to see what happens there. If Greenbriar Gunderson gets that deal, then the Portland, Oregon area will get a "two-fer"

(Boydstun Metalworks is located in Portland. I think Gunderson is in Beaverton, which is close by.)

If you can't see the image to the left, go to www.boydstun.com

But don't expect to get your new screw trailer any time soon. I hear Boydstun has a hell of a backlog. From what we're hearing from dealers like Rush, it's the same over atCottrell trailers, though I don't think their screw trailer is anywhere near as popular as Boydstun's. Time will tell I guess.

The big question is what these rigs will be worth at turn-in time, and how many guys will want them. I'm guessing that if they do well, there will be a pretty good market with the medium-sized fleets picking up at the ports. The open design of the screw actuator car hauler lends itself well to that kind of car hauling operator. Not sure how many POV car haulers will be jumping onto the bandwagon.

Auto Transport Trailer Manufacturers and Freightliner Trucks

I might have been hallucinating, but I think I heard someone say the other day that Cottrell Trailers is putting out six or eight trailers a day. I have no idea how much Boydstun is making up there in Portland, but the other day when I was talking to Mark Mecklam, he had about thirty seconds before he had to take another call.

That Cottrell number might not be far off the mark. I was talking to someone at Rush Truck Center the other day and he said he wasn't having trouble getting new Peterbilts, but getting trailers was like pulling teeth.

Haven't talked to Jakes in a while, but if these guys are THIS busy, Jakes Truck Center will be ten times as busy. He was busy when everything was slumping a while back.

I have no corroboration on those numbers from Cottrell Trailers, but if they're true, and if Boydstun is as busy as they seem, I've got to believe it has to do with the 2007 emission standards for commercial trucks.

A reliable source says Freightliner's North Carolina plant is pumping out over 200 tractors a day. 200 Freightliners a day!

Seems as if every fleet in the country decided to upgrade at the same time.

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Telephone Service

Normally, I don't talk about things that aren't related to car hauling equipment or the car hauling business, but I wanted to draw your attention to a new affiliate for Carhauler News: Lingo. This is an amazing company offering VOIP telephone service.

VOIP stands for Voice Over Internet Protocol. What this basically means is that you can use your DSL or cable broadband internet service to make phone calls now.

There are several different companies that have really started to pull ahead of the others in VOIP service, to my knowledge, Lingo offers the best service yet, especially compared with adding an additional line through your regular phone company.

Between long distance, local service, fees and taxes, I was easily spending over $120 a month for my second business line. For $20 a month, I now get unlimited local and long distance calls in the US, Canada as well as over a dozen countries in Europe!

Basically, I'm saving about $1,200 a year by using this service. The calls are actually clearer than they were when I had my second business line, plus I get free voice mail, call forwarding, three-way calling, speed dial, call return, caller ID block and a bunch of other features. My phone company made me choose my top three. If I wanted more than that, I had to pay extra. If I wanted to call Canada, I had to pay extra.

What's really funny is my Lingo phone service runs on my DSL which is provided by the local phone company.

An additional source of savings comes from the fact that I don't have to pay a bunch of stupid local, state and federal taxes for the extra phone line.

I highly recommend this service. If you want to try it out for yourself, click on the link to the right. The good news is you don't have to be highly technical to get the thing to work. I set up my Lingo box and got my service working in about a half hour.

Their customer service is also great. After making a change to my office's network configuration, I discovered my VOIP line wasn't working. After trying some basic tricks to get it to come back, I called customer service. After about a five minute hold, a service tech came on the phone. In about fifteen minutes, we had the whole thing sorted out and the VOIP line was working great.

If you want to ask me about the service, you can me on the Carhauler News VOIP phone! Our number is 503-342-2085.

Buy & Sell New & Used Trailers at TrailerShopper.com -- Search

Buy & Sell New & Used Trailers at TrailerShopper.com -- Search: "2006 Featherlite Enclosed Carhauler Mdl#4926"

I've been thinking for some time we need to have a site dedicated to the smaller types of carhauler trailers, parts and supplies. This site here has over a hundred of smaller car hauling trailers, both enclosed and open.

Auto recalls archive for 1998 boydstun trailer vehicles

Auto recalls archive for 1998 boydstun trailer vehicles: "ACCURIDE/AKW WILL REPLACE THESE WHEELS."

For the price they charge for aluminum wheels, it's nice to see manufacturers standing behind them!

Auto Recalls: 1997 - BOYDSTUN - TRAILER -- Nolo

Auto Recalls: 1997 - BOYDSTUN - TRAILER -- Nolo: "1997 BOYDSTUN TRAILER - WHEELS:RIM"

I never heard of this one myself, but I suppose if you've got a 1997 Boydstun, this would be worth looking into.

Allied Holdings seeks salary cuts - Atlanta Business Chronicle:

Allied Holdings seeks salary cuts - Atlanta Business Chronicle:: "Allied Holdings Inc. has filed a motion in Bankruptcy Court to reduce its unionized employees' salaries by 10 percent, which would save the company about $2 million each month and possibly save it from liquidation."

Maybe it's time some of those boys get themselves a truck and trailer?

GM, Ford sales go downhill, Toyota zooms ahead- The Economic Times

GM, Ford sales go downhill, Toyota zooms ahead- The Economic Times

What this means for the auto transport industry is anybody's guess. Might help to brush up on your Japanese. What I've been thinking about lately is how out-of-touch GM, Ford and Chrysler are with the female car-buyer. (Sorry, still think of Chrysler as an American brand!)

Just a few weeks ago, my wife wanted a new car. I suggested several possibilities: the Ford 500, a used Chevy Tahoe (to pull my new boat on the weekends!).

My wife actually test-drove the Ford 500 and loved the handling, fit, finish, etc. It seemed too much of an "old person's car", so she wasn't interested in buying one. I was interested in the Tahoe for reasons of safety and boat-towing ability, but she didn't like the fuel economy, didn't want something that big (she parks in a garage downtown and has trouble with the pillars). Besides, she didn't really feel like she was a truck person.

After borrowing her mom's Toyota Camry, she decided she really liked the way that drove. On the way to the dealer to buy a Toyota Camry, we passed a Honda dealer. As an avid reader of the car review in the Saturday paper, I recalled that the new Honda V6 got rave reviews for comfort and performance. She test drove a fully loaded EXL and it was love at first sight. After driving the Accord, she did try out a new Camry, but it felt a bit "stodgy" to her after the V6 Accord. Needless to say, we bought the Honda.

What really struck me about the whole experience was how no GM product (other than the Tahoe-- which I brought up) or any Chrysler at all even came under consideration.

Driving by the line-up of the new cars at the local Chrysler dealer, it struck me how far off the mark their designers are when it comes to the female buyer. It's like they made a decision that they'll sell mini-vans to the moms and pickups and Chargers to the dads-- and that's it!

Ford is making an attempt to get the female buyer with the new front-wheel drive car... hell I can't even remember its name right now! At one point, I we were thinking about the mini SUV they built on the 500's platform, but then we looked up reliability and Consumer Reports didn't rank them very high, so that was the end of that.

I'm glad my wife is happy with her new Honda, but I've got to admit-- I'm really not a Honda guy. Plus the disconnect between American car makers and American women doesn't bode well for these companies' fortunes.

I think we could be looking at a future where Ford builds nothing but SUV's and trucks and the Mustang GT (My next car.) GM will continue the trucks and SUV's, plus Cadillac and Corvette. Pontiac? Oldsmobile? Buick?

Auto hauler hires turnaround expert

Auto hauler hires turnaround expert: "PTS, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last year, is the
second largest transporter of new automobiles, sport-utility vehicles and light trucks in North America. It operates three trucking lines: E
and L Transport, Hadley Auto Transport and Leaseway Motorcar Transport, which together deliver approximately 3.8-million new cars and light trucks annually."

What's going on at the top of the food chain? Correction of over-supply? Look for some of these divisions to get spun for cash.

Autohauler Shopper

Autohauler Shopper:
NEW 2005 WESTERN STAR LOWMAX, SERIES 60 14.0 Detroit 515 HP, 13 Spd,
Engine Brake, Air Ride Suspension, 3.55 Ratio, 249' WB, 48' Star Light
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This site has 125 pieces of auto transport equipment to view!




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West Coast Enterprises: Cottrell and some Boydstun

Unit# Year Make Model Engine Sleeper Transmission Price JTS019982006FreightlinerCL120/C7510Caterpillar C-15 4754813 SpeedCall!JTS019992006FreightlinerCL120/C7510Caterpillar C-15 4754813 SpeedCall!JTS3372006Western StarLOMAX /C7512MSTCaterpillar C-15 4755813 SpeedCall!WCCN542532005FreightlinerCOLUMBIA/9178SACaterpillar C-15 55058RTLO18913A$225,000ATG1082001FRGHT/COTTRELLCLASSIC/C12Detroit SERIES 60 5004813 Speed$97,0005570512001Peterbilt379 /3 CAR BOYDCaterpillar C-15 4754813 Speed$100,000WCH877453713662001SterlingLT9501\2878Cummins ISM350 350RTX14710C$62,500WCCF592632756902000FreightlinerFLD120Caterpillar 3406E 4754813 Speed$115,000WC5499382000Peterbilt379/C7512Caterpillar C-15 47536"10 Speed$91,500WCC5226632000Peterbilt379/4000Caterpillar 3406E 47563"RTLO18918B$90,0005054822000Peterbilt379 /3 CAR BOYDCaterpillar 5506313 Speed$110,000WCC5226632000Peterbilt379/4000Caterpillar 3406E 55018 Speed$90,0005054772000PTRB/BOYDSTUN379/9178Caterpillar 3406E 5504813 Speed$100,000WCCF985512000SterlingDAYCAB CARHAULECummins ISM 370Daycab10 Speed$69,500WCLN2952551990Peterbilt379Caterpillar 3406 42536"9 Speed$38,000

Lugo Mfg - Models

Lugo Mfg - Models: "Stinger Model C-12 Stinger Model CS-12LTA/CS-12LTB Stinger Model CS-14 Stinger Model C7512 Stinger Model EZ-7509 Lugo ..." (Cottrell Trailers)

Trailers - Stinger CS-12LTA

Trailers - Stinger CS-12LTA: "STINGER MODEL CS-12LTA/CS-12LTB with 3-CAR HEADRAMP (shown with sleeper cab) The CS-12LTA and CS-12LTB trailers are two of our newer designs created to accommodate today's ..."