STATISTICS * USA - NA truck registrations lowest on record

Southfield,MICH,USA -Today's Trucking (CAN) -28 May 2009: -- New commercial truck registrations (Class 3-8) were down 40 percent for the first quarter of 2009 compared to the same period in 2008, according to the Polk Commercial Vehicle Market Intelligence Report... This is the lowest registration quarter since 1991, and for Class 8 models, March has been the worst month since Polk started keeping these records in 1985. These declines come on the heels of an overwhelming drop in demand... Last year, total registration of commercial vehicles was at 486,800. Registration was down in all fleet sizes and categories... The Canadian market dropped by 37.3 percent from the first quarter of 2008. The index indicates 2009 will see 48,000 units registered in Canada, which is about 42 percent lower than 2006 levels...


* NAFTA - Can-Am truck trade drops over 25%

Washington,DC,USA -Today's Trucking -29 May 2009: -- Surface transportation trade among the three NAFTA nations plummeted again -- this time by 27.9 percent in March from a year earlier... That's the third consecutive month of decline greater than 27 percent, the Department of Transportation reports... U.S.-Canada trade, specifically, fell 34.2 percent to $31 billion. The value of truck imports fell 26.8 percent and truck exports dropped 25.1 percent... Overall, truck imports from both Canada and Mexico to the U.S. dropped 21.5 percent to $18.7 billion, while exports fell 18.9 percent to $18.9 billion... About 90 percent of U.S. trade among NAFTA partners moves by land...