January Used Car Depreciation Shows Segment Turbulence

According to Black Book data, used vehicles model years 2008-2012 overall depreciated -1.9% in January, slightly weaker retention compared to the -1.4% rate in December. Domestic cars depreciated -2.3%; import cars were -1.7%; domestic trucks were -2.3%; and import trucks were -1.7%. Average pre-recession depreciation is historically between -1% and -2% monthly.

Compact Pickups and Prestige Luxury Cars led all segments with the strongest monthly retention at +0.7%, the only two segments with a positive change.

Compact Pickups finished January with an average wholesale value of $15,215, a -6.7% change from year-ago levels ($16,303). Vehicles in this segment include the Nissan Frontier, Mazda Pickup, Ford Ranger, and Toyota Tacoma.

Prestige Luxury Cars finished January with an average wholesale value of $34,796, a -17.3% change from year-ago levels ($42,051). This segment tied with the Entry Mid-Sized-Cars with the largest YOY depreciation change. Vehicles in the Prestige Luxury Cars segment include the BMW 7-Series, Audi A8, Mercedes-Benz S-Class, Lexus G Series, and Jaguar XJ.

Cargo Minivans led all segments with the strongest monthly depreciation at -4.0%. Vehicles in this segment finished with an average wholesale value of $9,386, a -14.4% change from year ago levels ($10,961). Vehicles in this segment include the Dodge Caravan and Chevrolet Uplander.

The top three segments with the largest depreciation percentage change during January were all truck segments: Cargo Mini Vans (-4.0%); Full-Size SUVs (-3.4%); and Passenger Minivans (-3.2%).

“January saw a few key trends that illustrated some turbulence in the used-car market, as truck segments had a bumpy month and domestic vehicles also saw large monthly declines,” said Ricky Beggs, Editorial Director of Black Book. “This downward pricing pressure should ease in the near-term as buyers elevate their activity for the Spring tax-buying season.”

Here is the complete breakdown of Black Book-recorded January value changes of used cars (2008-2012):

Bodystyle	Seg	Veh Type	2/1/13	1/1/14	M Chg	2/1/14	12M Chg
			[$]	[$]	[%]	[$]	[%]
All Vehicles			$21,078	$18,575	-1.9%	$18,218	-13.6%
Domestic			$14,449	$12,605	-2.3%	$12,316	-14.8%
Dom. Trk			$19,337	$17,403	-2.3%	$17,000	-12.1%
Import			$22,577	$19,470	-1.7%	$19,130	-15.3%
Imp. Trk			$23,527	$21,081	-1.7%	$20,714	-12.0%
Mini Van Cargo	MVC	Trk	$10,961	$9,777	-4.0%	$9,386	-14.4%
Full-Size SUV	FSU	Trk	$22,984	$21,139	-3.4%	$20,430	-11.1%
Mini Van Wagon (Pass)	MVW	Trk	$14,856	$13,160	-3.2%	$12,745	-14.2%
Luxury Level Car	LLC		$23,993	$21,109	-2.8%	$20,520	-14.5%
Entry Mid-Size Car	EMC		$12,836	$10,899	-2.6%	$10,611	-17.3%
Upper Mid-Size Car	UMC		$12,950	$11,321	-2.6%	$11,023	-14.9%
Compact Car	SCC		$10,807	$9,359	-2.4%	$9,130	-15.5%
Entry Level Car	ELC		$8,918	$7,583	-2.4%	$7,399	-17.0%
Near Luxury Car	NLC		$20,807	$18,228	-2.3%	$17,812	-14.4%
Compact CUV	CXU	Trk	$15,323	$13,276	-2.2%	$12,981	-15.3%
Full-Size Car	FSC		$14,863	$12,715	-2.2%	$12,436	-16.3%
Mid-Size CUV	MXU	Trk	$21,861	$19,228	-2.1%	$18,815	-13.9%
Mid-Size Pickup	MPT	Trk	$18,268	$17,239	-2.0%	$16,889	-7.5%
Luxury SUV	LSU	Trk	$39,078	$35,144	-2.0%	$34,437	-11.9%
Premium Sporty Car	PSC		$52,889	$46,728	-2.0%	$45,791	-13.4%
Mid-Size SUV	MSU	Trk	$20,617	$18,370	-2.0%	$18,005	-12.7%
Compact SUV	CSU	Trk	$17,228	$16,248	-1.8%	$15,963	-7.3%
Full-Size Van Cargo	FVC	Trk	$14,232	$12,595	-1.7%	$12,384	-13.0%
Full-Size Pickup	FPT	Trk	$24,758	$23,548	-1.6%	$23,165	-6.4%
Sporty Car	ESC		$21,959	$18,920	-1.6%	$18,626	-15.2%
Full-Size Vans Wagon (Pass)	FVW	Trk	$14,847	$12,981	-1.4%	$12,804	-13.8%
Full-Size CUV	FXU	Trk	$25,152	$21,487	-1.3%	$21,200	-15.7%
Prestige Luxury Car	PLC		$42,051	$34,564	0.7%	$34,796	-17.3%
Compact Pickup	CPT	Trk	$16,303	$15,106	0.7%	$15,215	-6.7%

About Black Book
Black Book® is best known in the automotive industry for providing timely, independent and accurate vehicle pricing information, and is available to industry-qualified users through online subscription products, mobile applications and licensing agreements. A leading provider since 1955, Black Book has continuously evolved to ensure that it achieves its goal of delivering mission-critical information to its customers, along with the insight necessary to successfully buy, sell, and lend. Black Book data is published daily by National Auto Research, a division of Hearst Business media, and the company maintains offices in Georgia, Florida, and Maryland. For more information, please visit BlackBookAuto.com or call 800.554.1026.

Click here to view Ricky Beggs’ weekly video series offering the latest insight in the auto market http://ow.ly/aHFD6. Follow Ricky on Twitter @BeggsBlackBook (https://twitter.com/beggsblackbook) and on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/blackbookUSA.

ARI to Host Vehicle Remarketing Best Practices Webinar

MT. LAUREL, NJ (February 5, 2014): ARI^®, a leading global fleet services provider specializing in complex car and truck fleets, will host  a webinar highlighting best practices in vehicle remarketing on Tuesday, February 11, 2014 at 11:00 am EST. The webinar will give fleet personnel the opportunity to explore and discuss various vehicle remarketing strategies to help determine the best options for their fleet.

The webinar will provide insight into the vehicle remarketing process and seek to answer some of the questions that can arise, including:

• Should a company offer an employee purchase program?
• What time of year yields the highest returns?
• What is the best venue to sell particular vehicles?
  

ARI’s Matthew Durand, manager of remarketing development and title management, will host the webinar. Durand, a 15-year fleet management veteran, and his team at ARI specialize in identifying remarketing solutions that drive value for fleets of all kinds.

During the hour-long webinar, Durand and webinar participants also will discuss a wide-range of remarketing topics such as methods for maximizing exposure, preparing a vehicle for sale and remarketing benchmarking.

To register for the webinar, please click here. For more information, please visit www.arifleet.com.

 About ARI^®

ARI, part of the Holman Automotive Group, is a global vehicle fleet management organization that drives the best results for each of its clients’ unique and complex needs by employing the industry’s best fleet professionals, processes, and technology. A workforce numbering more than 2,500 collaborates across offices located throughout North America, Europe, the UK, and Hong Kong to manage more than 1,000,000 fleet vehicles in North America, the UK and Europe, and combined with its strategic partners more than two million fleet vehicles globally. A leader in its industry, ARI has been recognized as one of the “100 Best Companies to Work For” by FORTUNE magazine. ARI is headquartered in Mount Laurel, New Jersey. Learn more at www.arifleet.com and connect with us on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter.

TCA and CarriersEdge Announce Best Fleets to Drive For Top 20 Winners and Fleets to Watch

Alexandria, Virginia -- The results are in, and the Truckload Carriers Association (TCA) and CarriersEdge of Markham, Ontario, proudly announce that they have selected 20 trucking companies from across North America as the 2014 Best Fleets to Drive For. The annual survey and contest, now in its sixth year, identifies for-hire trucking companies that provide the best workplace experiences for their drivers. This year’s winners are as follows:

• Bison Transport, Winnipeg, Manitoba
• Brian Kurtz Trucking Ltd., Breslau, Ontario
• Central Oregon Trucking Company, Inc., Redmond, Oregon
• DJ Knoll Transport Ltd., Emerald Park, Saskatchewan
• Fremont Contract Carriers, Inc., Fremont, Nebraska
• FTC Transportation, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
• Gordon Trucking, Inc., Pacific, Washington
• Grammer Industries, Inc., Grammer, Indiana
• Grand Island Express, Grand Island, Nebraska
• Halvor Lines, Inc., Superior, Wisconsin
• Kriska Holdings Ltd., Prescott, Ontario
• Landstar System, Inc., Jacksonville, Florida
• Load One, LLC, Taylor, Michigan
• Motor Carrier Service, Inc., Northwood, Ohio
• Paramount Freight Systems, LLC, Ft. Myers, Florida
• Prime Inc., Springfield, Missouri
• Sue Vinje Trucking, Superior, Wisconsin
• TimeLine Logistic International Ltd., Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
• Transpro Freight Systems, Ltd., Milton, Ontario
• Trimac Transportation, Calgary, Alberta

In addition, five companies have been identified as “Fleets to Watch” (honorable mentions) for demonstrating innovation in their driver programs:

• Drive Logistics, Windsor, Ontario
• Erb Group of Companies, New Hamburg, Ontario
• Roehl Transport Inc., Marshfield, Wisconsin
• Steelman Transportation, Inc., Springfield, Missouri
• Tennant Truck Lines, Inc., Colona, Illinois

The nomination process began in the fall of 2013, when company drivers and owner operators were asked to nominate carriers that operate 10 or more trucks. After confirming the validity of the nominations and the trucking companies’ desire to participate, CarriersEdge interviewed human resources representatives and executives of the nominated fleets about their corporate direction, policies, and programs. Nominated fleets were evaluated against a scoring matrix covering a variety of categories, such as:

• Total compensation package – including base pay, bonuses, vacation, and sick day allotment
• Health benefits
• Pension plans
• Professional development opportunities (training, coaching programs, etc.)
• Career path/advancement opportunities
• Commitment to employee personal growth, including work/life balance, driver family support, and employee-directed charitable contributions
• Commitment to continuous improvement, including dispute resolution processes and inclusion of driver feedback in policymaking
• Team building and driver community development activities
• Annual driver turnover rate
• Fleet safety record

A selection of each fleet’s drivers was also surveyed, with their feedback compared to management’s and incorporated into the final score. The responses were then tallied, resulting in the selection of this year’s winners and honorable mentions.

Mark Murrell, president of CarriersEdge, said: “The biggest trend we saw this year was a shift to mobile technology. Most companies are using smartphones and tablets to deliver information to their drivers, and some are even developing their own custom mobile apps.”

The winners represent a wide range of fleet sizes and business focus areas. The smallest fleet has 25 drivers, while the largest has more than 8,500. Chris Burruss, president of TCA, said, “Each year, I am more and more amazed at the innovative programs these fleets are implementing, regardless of their size. And several of the Best Fleet winners are also in contention for TCA’s National Fleet Safety Awards, so clearly these are not just nice places to work—they’re also safe!”

The next phase of the contest will be to announce the highest scoring fleets from each of two categories: Best Overall Fleet for Owner Operators, sponsored by Marsh, Inc., of New York, New York, and Best Overall Fleet for Company Drivers, sponsored by Bose Ride of Framingham, Massachusetts. The names will be announced at the March 25 awards ceremony during TCA’s Annual Convention at the Gaylord Texan in Grapevine, Texas. Between Monday, March 17, and Friday, March 21, clues about the winners’ identities will be posted with the hashtag #BestFleets14 to TCA’s Twitter account (www.truckload.org/Twitter) and Facebook page (www.truckload.org/Facebook).

For more details about Best Fleets to Drive For, visit www.BestFleetsToDriveFor.com.

Cokie Roberts to Address Women in Transportation

February 5, 2014 – (Washington, DC) Cokie Roberts, best-selling author and award-winning journalist, has been confirmed as the keynote speaker for the 2014 annual conference of WTS International, the association for the professional advancement of women in transportation that will take place May 14 - 16, 2014, in Portland, Oregon.

 “When we plan the conference each year we seek to provide our members and supporters with a keynote presentation that touches on the core of our mission, and Ms. Roberts epitomizes our association’s guiding mission of attracting, retaining, and advancing women in transportation, an industry with very few women in top roles and few young women focused on STEM studies or entering this important industry,” said Margaret Mullins, director of the WTS Annual Conference. “Cokie Roberts, an icon in the media and a role model herself, will be talking to conference attendees about the drive, determination, creative insight, and passion of the women who raised our nation to illuminate the social issues effecting women today.”

“The transportation field is among the world’s most male-dominated industries, said Marcia Ferranto, WTS International’s President and CEO, “and as WTS members work to help each other develop professionally and climb through the ranks in both the public and private sectors, we can take pride in knowing that we are helping to build the world’s infrastructure through the advancement of women, and shaping future generations of transportation leaders. Ms. Roberts’ remarks will certainly inspire this association further when she addresses them in May in Portland.”

The Annual Conference is WTS International’s flagship event. It attracts more than corporate and governmental industry leaders worldwide, including executives, CEOs, government administrators, and leading transportation authorities. Attendees at the conference gather to network, discuss the state of the world’s transportation infrastructure, strategize on advancing professionally through glass ceilings, and explore the local city’s successful municipal and private transportation and transit projects. For the full duration of this year’s Portland conference, private corporations, public agencies and government officials invested in every transportation mode will exhibit, present, learn, and network. 

Cokie Roberts is a political commentator for ABC News, providing analysis for all network news programming, as well as for NPR. In her more than 40 years in broadcasting, she’s won countless awards, including three Emmys. She’s been inducted into the Broadcasting and Cable Hall of Fame, and was cited by the American Women in Radio and Television as one of the 50 greatest women in the history of broadcasting. In addition to her appearances on the airwaves, she’s a contributing editor to USA Weekend Magazine, and she co-authored From this Day Forward, an account of her more than 40-year marriage and other marriages in American history. The book immediately went onto The New York Times “best sellers” list, following her number one best seller, We Are Our Mothers’ Daughters, an account of women’s roles and relationships throughout American history. Ms. Roberts' histories of women in America’s founding era, Founding Mothers, published in 2004, and Ladies of Liberty published in 2008, also became instant best sellers. Ms. Roberts holds more than 20 honorary degrees, serves on the boards of several non-profit institutions and on the President’s Commission on Service and Civic Participation. In 2008, the Library of Congress named her a “Living Legend.”