The Shining City Upon a Hill

[FrohnB]

Unclogging The Ports Will Not Fix The Supply Chain’s Even Bigger Trucking Crisis


This week the Biden administration addressed the most visible sign of the nation’s supply chain crisis: opening the Los Angeles and Long Beach, CA ports to work around the clock to unload cargo ships.

Walmart, Target , FedEX, UPS, Los Angeles and Long Beach Port Authority directors and the International Longshore and Warehouse Union and Teamster leaders are all on board with the 24/7 plan.

This may provide relief at the ports, but once the filled-to-capacity overseas containers reach land, there is another critical snag in the supply chain: a shortage of truckers and trucks to get those goods where they are needed.

California is a HUGE part of the problem. Making those ports 24/7 isn't going to do anything except pile goods up on shore with no way of getting to the interior of the country. And it's not necessarily a "shortage of drivers" in the way they say.....it's a shortage of drivers willing to go to California.

A lot of "Owner/ Operators" don't want to go anywhere near the state of California becuase of certain rules/taxes/regulations. Whether it's California's new "gig economy" rules for truckers (essentially bans owner/operators), or the heavy regulations on what types of trucks can be driven in California (engine must be from 2007 or newer), and their exhaust/emissions regulations.

I have two friends that are OTR Truck drivers (owner/operators), and they refuse to deliver or pick up anything from California.
One of them was pulled over a few years ago in California, and was given a choice of getting his truck "fixed" to meet California's bone-headed requirements at the cost of nearly $50,000.00, or pay the fines for operating a non-compliant vehicle and forfeit the ability to operate in California. He payed the fines, temporarily lost his privilege to operate in California, got the hell outta dodge, and has never returned!

[slimslob]

California is a HUGE part of the problem. Making those ports 24/7 isn't going to do anything except pile goods up on shore with no way of getting to the interior of the country. And it's not necessarily a "shortage of drivers" in the way they say.....it's a shortage of drivers willing to go to California.

A lot of "Owner/ Operators" don't want to go anywhere near the state of California becuase of certain rules/taxes/regulations. Whether it's California's new "gig economy" rules for truckers (essentially bans owner/operators), or the heavy regulations on what types of trucks can be driven in California (engine must be from 2007 or newer), and their exhaust/emissions regulations.

I have two friends that are OTR Truck drivers (owner/operators), and they refuse to deliver or pick up anything from California.
One of them was pulled over a few years ago in California, and was given a choice of getting his truck "fixed" to meet California's bone-headed requirements at the cost of nearly $50,000.00, or pay the fines for operating a non-compliant vehicle and forfeit the ability to operate in California. He payed the fines, temporarily lost his privilege to operate in California, got the hell outta dodge, and has never returned!

I live in California and you nailed it. As it stands right now AB 5, the gig worker bill, passed 18 Sept 2019 is current injoined from being applied to the trucking industry.That injunction ends at the end of the year. Even so, only union truckers are allowed onto the shipyards. Biden can order the ports to operate 24/7 but the union contracts won't allow the yard dog drivers to do so. The yard dogs move the containers form the docks to the Customs yard for inspection and from Customs to the departure yards where line haul company drivers then hook up and haul them to their destinations. Once again, the drivers for the line haul companies are union drivers. Due to California regulations and the cost of fuel many line haul companies have moved their base of operations out of California. Those that still do pickups in California have a limited number of tractors that meet California's strict requirements as to engines and tractor date of manufacture. Until California flips to a red state, not much is going to change.

[bsm2]

Got my 99.00 14inch chromebook from Wal-Mart today so much for the World coming to an End

[SalesServiceGuy]

Hertz Order for 100,000 EVs Sends Tesla Value to $1 Trillion


Hertz Global Holdings Inc., barely four months out of bankruptcy, placed an order for 100,000 Teslas in the first step of an ambitious plan to electrify its rental-car fleet. Tesla Inc.’s shares soared, pushing the automaker’s value past $1 trillion for the first time.

The cars will be delivered over the next 14 months, and Tesla’s Model 3 sedans will be available to rent at Hertz locations in major U.S. markets and parts of Europe starting in early November, the rental company said in a statement. Customers will have access to Tesla’s network of superchargers, and Hertz is also building its own charging infrastructure.

It’s the single-largest purchase ever for electric vehicles, or EVs, and represents about $4.2 billion of revenue for Tesla, according to people familiar with the matter who declined to be identified because the information is private. While car-rental companies typically demand big discounts from automakers, the size of the order implies that Hertz is paying close to list prices.

“How do we democratize access to electric vehicles? That’s a very important part of our strategy,” Mark Fields, who joined Hertz as interim chief executive officer earlier this month, said in an interview. “Tesla is the only manufacturer that can produce EVs at scale.”

The electrification plan, which eventually will encompass almost all of Hertz’s half-million cars and trucks worldwide, is the company’s first big initiative since emerging from bankruptcy in June. And it signals that Hertz’s new owners, Knighthead Capital Management and Certares Management, are intent on shaking up an industry dominated by a handful of large players who are typically slow to change.

By locking up so much of Tesla’s production -- the order is equivalent to about one-tenth of what the automaker can currently produce in a year -- Hertz may box out rivals from copycatting the strategy. Hertz also is breaking with tradition by paying full price for well-appointed cars rather than the typical base-model, heavily discounted sedans that populate rental lots.

The discussions with Tesla go back months, to when Knighthead and Certares were putting together an offer for then-bankrupt Hertz, Fields said. Also, the relationship between the two companies isn’t exclusive: Hertz can buy EVs from other automakers and rival car-rental companies can order from Tesla, provided it has available capacity.

“We want to work with every manufacturer to help them launch EVs and drive this secular shift to electrification,” Fields said in the interview.

In 2020, General Motors Co. was Hertz’s biggest car and truck supplier, followed by Nissan Motor Co. and Ford Motor Co.

Teslas, with zero tailpipe emissions, will appeal to rental customers who want a green option or those eager to try out a battery-powered vehicle. Hertz said it hired Tom Brady, the seven-time Super Bowl-winning quarterback, to star in ads showcasing the new Teslas. It also created a dedicated EV website offering free charging through the end of January.

Under Fields, who was CEO of Ford for almost three years until May 2017, the company is looking to EVs as part of a commitment to clean energy. Teslas also can be less expensive to maintain and refuel as vehicles with internal combustion engines, and they typically don’t lose as much value in the resale market.

Initially, the charging network Hertz is building at its own locations will be for customers only, Fields said.

Along with the Tesla rollout, Hertz, the biggest U.S. car-rental company after Enterprise Holdings Inc., is embarking on a broader revamp of its business around mobility and digitization. One component of that will be expedited rental bookings on the Hertz app.

Wild Journey

Electrification is the latest turn in Hertz’s wild journey through the Covid-19 pandemic. When demand for rental cars collapsed in early 2020, the company, whose brands also include Dollar, Thrifty and Firefly, was forced to file for bankruptcy and began liquidating its fleet.

Now, 17 months later, Estero, Florida-based Hertz is thriving thanks to a sharp rebound in travel and the global shortage of new cars. Day traders have embraced it as a meme stock.

As of June 30, Hertz had $1.8 billion in cash and its debt-to-equity ratio, a key measure of financial health, had improved to 2.4 from almost 10 at the end of 2019, according to an Oct. 15 regulatory filing.

Knighthead, a distressed-debt hedge fund, and Certares, a private equity firm specializing in travel, won the bankruptcy auction for Hertz in May with a $6 billion bid. It already looks like a bargain: As of Monday, the company had a market value of $12.8 billion in over-the-counter trading.

[BillyCarpenter]

Hertz Order for 100,000 EVs Sends Tesla Value to $1 Trillion


Hertz Global Holdings Inc., barely four months out of bankruptcy, placed an order for 100,000 Teslas in the first step of an ambitious plan to electrify its rental-car fleet. Tesla Inc.’s shares soared, pushing the automaker’s value past $1 trillion for the first time.

The cars will be delivered over the next 14 months, and Tesla’s Model 3 sedans will be available to rent at Hertz locations in major U.S. markets and parts of Europe starting in early November, the rental company said in a statement. Customers will have access to Tesla’s network of superchargers, and Hertz is also building its own charging infrastructure.

It’s the single-largest purchase ever for electric vehicles, or EVs, and represents about $4.2 billion of revenue for Tesla, according to people familiar with the matter who declined to be identified because the information is private. While car-rental companies typically demand big discounts from automakers, the size of the order implies that Hertz is paying close to list prices.

“How do we democratize access to electric vehicles? That’s a very important part of our strategy,” Mark Fields, who joined Hertz as interim chief executive officer earlier this month, said in an interview. “Tesla is the only manufacturer that can produce EVs at scale.”

The electrification plan, which eventually will encompass almost all of Hertz’s half-million cars and trucks worldwide, is the company’s first big initiative since emerging from bankruptcy in June. And it signals that Hertz’s new owners, Knighthead Capital Management and Certares Management, are intent on shaking up an industry dominated by a handful of large players who are typically slow to change.

By locking up so much of Tesla’s production -- the order is equivalent to about one-tenth of what the automaker can currently produce in a year -- Hertz may box out rivals from copycatting the strategy. Hertz also is breaking with tradition by paying full price for well-appointed cars rather than the typical base-model, heavily discounted sedans that populate rental lots.

The discussions with Tesla go back months, to when Knighthead and Certares were putting together an offer for then-bankrupt Hertz, Fields said. Also, the relationship between the two companies isn’t exclusive: Hertz can buy EVs from other automakers and rival car-rental companies can order from Tesla, provided it has available capacity.

“We want to work with every manufacturer to help them launch EVs and drive this secular shift to electrification,” Fields said in the interview.

In 2020, General Motors Co. was Hertz’s biggest car and truck supplier, followed by Nissan Motor Co. and Ford Motor Co.

Teslas, with zero tailpipe emissions, will appeal to rental customers who want a green option or those eager to try out a battery-powered vehicle. Hertz said it hired Tom Brady, the seven-time Super Bowl-winning quarterback, to star in ads showcasing the new Teslas. It also created a dedicated EV website offering free charging through the end of January.

Under Fields, who was CEO of Ford for almost three years until May 2017, the company is looking to EVs as part of a commitment to clean energy. Teslas also can be less expensive to maintain and refuel as vehicles with internal combustion engines, and they typically don’t lose as much value in the resale market.

Initially, the charging network Hertz is building at its own locations will be for customers only, Fields said.

Along with the Tesla rollout, Hertz, the biggest U.S. car-rental company after Enterprise Holdings Inc., is embarking on a broader revamp of its business around mobility and digitization. One component of that will be expedited rental bookings on the Hertz app.

Wild Journey

Electrification is the latest turn in Hertz’s wild journey through the Covid-19 pandemic. When demand for rental cars collapsed in early 2020, the company, whose brands also include Dollar, Thrifty and Firefly, was forced to file for bankruptcy and began liquidating its fleet.

Now, 17 months later, Estero, Florida-based Hertz is thriving thanks to a sharp rebound in travel and the global shortage of new cars. Day traders have embraced it as a meme stock.

As of June 30, Hertz had $1.8 billion in cash and its debt-to-equity ratio, a key measure of financial health, had improved to 2.4 from almost 10 at the end of 2019, according to an Oct. 15 regulatory filing.

Knighthead, a distressed-debt hedge fund, and Certares, a private equity firm specializing in travel, won the bankruptcy auction for Hertz in May with a $6 billion bid. It already looks like a bargain: As of Monday, the company had a market value of $12.8 billion in over-the-counter trading.

The purchase of electric cars is propped up by the government. This is a bad move by Hertz.

The more you look behind corporate and government press releases these days, the more you learn about their mutual benefit society. We wrote Tuesday about the many subsidies for Tesla’s electric cars, but it turns out there’s also a pot of subsidy gold behind the Hertz decision to buy 100,000 Teslas for its car-rental fleet.


Tesla CEO Elon Musk says he isn’t giving Hertz a discount on the reported $4.2 billion order. But he doesn’t need to because the House reconciliation spending bill includes a 30% tax credit for “qualified commercial electric vehicles.”

[Phil B.]

The purchase of electric cars is propped up by the government. This is a bad move by Hertz.

Hertz? What do they do?
I own 2 cars and a truck.. WTF would I want to RENT a car, that's for losers.

Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk

[copier addict]

Hertz? What do they do?
I own 2 cars and a truck.. WTF would I want to RENT a car, that's for losers.

Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk

News flash Phil. Not everything is about you. I know that hertz, but it's true. Lol.

[slimslob]

Hertz? What do they do?
I own 2 cars and a truck.. WTF would I want to RENT a car, that's for losers.

Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk

That is why most Hertz rental facilities are located at airports. Most people do not need to rent a vehicle unless they have flown somewhere and need wheels while they are there. And that is most likely why Hertz was in bankruptcy, drastically reduced travel during the Dempanic.

[BillyCarpenter]

That is why most Hertz rental facilities are located at airports. Most people do not need to rent a vehicle unless they have flown somewhere and need wheels while they are there. And that is most likely why Hertz was in bankruptcy, drastically reduced travel during the Dempanic.

The Tesla purchase should be the final nail in the coffin for them.

[SalesServiceGuy]

Hertz? What do they do?
I own 2 cars and a truck.. WTF would I want to RENT a car, that's for losers.

Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk

... when the service is required, I would be eager to rent a Tesla over a gas automobile just to try it for the first time.