Latest news with #PenskeTruckLeasing
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Chicagoland trucking firm files for bankruptcy following railroad suit
This story was originally published on Trucking Dive. To receive daily news and insights, subscribe to our free daily Trucking Dive newsletter. Illinois transportation firm Nortia Logistics — which allegedly defaulted on repaying Union Pacific Railroad for freight services — filed for Ch. 11 bankruptcy on June 9. Union Pacific sued Nortia in May and alleged the asset-based business lapsed in repaying a $3.6 million promissory note, representing freight debt from Dec. 6, 2023, through May 6, 2024. The Chicagoland business also owes over $1.3 million in lease terminations, among other unsecured claims. Nortia has around $1.4 million in estimated assets and nearly $5.8 million in liabilities, according to the bankruptcy filing. Assets included forklifts and Volvo trucks, and the company was leasing 26 trucks through Penske Truck Leasing along with warehouse and office space with 36 months remaining. The firm had 56 power units and 45 drivers as of Feb. 20, according to a Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration database. With the Union Pacific debt, Nortia was on a repayment schedule starting a year ago but missed monthly payments in Q4 2024 totaling over $499,000, Union Pacific's suit said. The trucking firm still owed a remaining balance of $3.2 million, the railroad said in a January letter. Large carriers and analysts have been noting in recent years how they expect capacity to retreat from the surge of trucking businesses due to pandemic-fueled demand. Recent bankruptcy filings have come from firms such as Balkan Express, AZA Transportation and Angie's Transportation. Nortia generated $40 million in revenue in 2023, nearly $29.5 million in 2024, and over $8.3 million from Jan. 1 up until the bankruptcy filing, according to the court document. Recommended Reading Illinois carrier files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy
Yahoo
12-05-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Penske's Catalyst AI Powers Innovative New Era of Fleet Intelligence
New release of Catalyst AI leverages 100B+ data points, 300+ simultaneous models, and machine-learned fleet simulations to deliver insights from vehicle to hub. Penske delivers a new level of AI-powered fleet intelligence—unmatched in scope, scale, and actionable insights. Developed in-house, Catalyst AI applies proprietary models that transform complexity into competitive advantage. Catalyst AI advances from fleet-level visibility to granular insights—enabling real-time benchmarking and diagnostics now at the individual vehicle and hub level. 93% of leaders believe AI can improve resiliency—but 84% say the industry is behind, signaling urgency for adoption. READING, Pa., May 12, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Penske Truck Leasing introduced the new generation of fleet intelligence with the latest release of Catalyst AI™, its proprietary artificial intelligence engine and industry leading AI platform that redefined fleet management. Built specifically for commercial transportation, Catalyst AI applies machine learning in advanced methods—turning one of the industry's richest vehicle data sets into faster, more strategic decision-making across operations. Experience the full interactive Multichannel News Release here: Catalyst AI was built to meet a fundamental need in modern operations: how to take the right action, at the right time, from the right data. The update introduces four core enhancements designed to make that possible: Fantasy Fleet – Offers a new comparison set made up of top-performing vehicles most similar to each vehicle in the user's fleet—helping them find gaps and elevate performance. Vehicle-level Comparison – Enables users to compare individual vehicles to pinpoint performance differences, helping identify where targeted adjustments can drive better results. Hub-level Comparison – Allows users to assess operations by location and uncover opportunities for improved efficiency at the local level. Impacting Metrics – Gives users the ability to focus on specific metrics that matter most to their business—fuel efficiency, maintenance costs, utilization, and more. "The new release marks a next chapter for Catalyst AI—one that makes complex data more usable, more scalable, and more actionable," said Art Vallely, president of Penske Truck Leasing. "We've enhanced the platform's ability to surface trends, benchmark at the vehicle level, and identify meaningful outliers across fleets and facilities. Built in-house, the platform was designed to help our customers spend less time chasing data and more time improving performance." Catalyst AI continues to evolve in step with the complexities of modern fleet operations, delivering faster insights, clearer benchmarks, and intelligence designed to keep businesses ahead. Developed by Penske, the platform reflects what today's fleet professionals need: trusted insights that drive action. That demand is reflected in Penske's 2025 Transportation Leaders Survey: A Road to AI Adoption, which found that 93% of senior business decision makers in the transportation and logistics industry agree that AI will improve their organization's resiliency and ability to adapt to sudden shifts. More than half (54%) said the ability to compare their fleet's performance to others in the same market would improve both efficiency and operational decision-making. As they specifically plan for today's continued economic uncertainty, fleet leaders cited their most critical data needs as: visibility into maintenance costs (44%), fuel price trends (41%), and fleet utilization (36%). Organizations that have embraced AI are already reaping the benefits with 40% of respondents using AI tools saying they've seen improvements of at least 50% in fuel usage, cost reduction, or distance traveled through smarter routing and optimization. However, 84% of transportation leaders think the industry is lagging behind in AI adoption and 36% only feel somewhat prepared to respond to ongoing supply chain disruptions and economic volatility. This signals a growing urgency for tools that not only provide data but translate it into tangible actions that drive outcomes, such as lowering operating costs and increasing efficiency. "We've designed Catalyst AI with our customers' needs in mind," said Sherry Sanger, executive vice president of strategy and marketing at Penske Transportation Solutions. "Catalyst AI represents a strategic leap forward in how fleets use data. It's not just about visibility—it's about empowering smarter decisions across the entire network with technology that works in the real world." Since Catalyst AI launched in 2024, the platform has grown to support thousands of users, helping fleet professionals move from lagging metrics to leading decisions. The platform is now a foundational part of how teams across Penske's network report, benchmark, and plan—across vehicles, locations, and systems. "Catalyst AI now analyzes over 100 billion data points annually," said Tim Haynes, vice president of digital and customer data at Penske. "We've engineered a system that runs more than 300 models in real time—delivering comparison logic, trend detection, and scoring that is both scalable and immediate. This release reflects the technical backbone required to help fleets benchmark smarter and respond faster." Catalyst AI is embedded within Comparative Insights, a feature inside the Fleet Insight® digital platform. Comparative Insights, powered by Catalyst AI, at the fleet level remains available at no cost to Penske customers. The new Comparative Insights Premium Plan unlocks access to vehicle- and hub-level comparisons and the Fantasy Fleet feature, with a 30-day free trial available before subscription. To learn more, visit About Penske Truck Leasing Penske Truck Leasing is a Penske Transportation Solutions company headquartered in Reading, Pennsylvania. A leading provider of innovative transportation solutions, Penske operates and maintains more than 419,000 vehicles and serves its customers from more than 990 maintenance facilities and more than 2,200 rental locations across North America. Solutions from Penske include full-service truck leasing, fleet maintenance, truck rentals, used trucks, and a comprehensive array of technologies to keep the world moving forward. Visit to learn more. Survey Methodology – The second edition of The Transportation Leaders Survey: A Road to AI Adoption was conducted online by Big Village among a sample of 255 U.S. adults 18 years of age and older who are owners, founders, or executive leaders or decision makers of a Transportations or Logistics businesses. This survey was live April 16-23, 2025. Contacts:Tana Randy View original content: SOURCE Penske Truck Leasing Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
05-03-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Penske Truck Leasing hangs on to investment-grade debt rating from Moody's
The investment-grade debt rating of Penske Truck Leasing has been affirmed by Moody's, reflecting the rating agency's 'expectation that Penske will continue its consistent performance despite North America's extended trucking downturn.' The report by Moody's last week affirms the company's Baa2 senior unsecured rating and its P-2 commercial paper rating. Baa2 at Moody's is two notches above the line separating investment-grade and non-investment-grade debt. Baa2 also is considered equivalent to a BBB rating by S&P Global Ratings. S&P has a BBB rating on Penske Truck Leasing. Ryder Corp. (NYSE: R), which competes with Penske Truck Leasing on truck rentals, also has a Baa2 rating at Moody's. But at S&P Global, Ryder carries a BBB+ rating. Penske Truck Leasing is a privately held business with three owners, according to the latest 10-K report of Penske Automotive Group, a publicly traded company that is primarily a truck retailer. Privately held Penske Group, a large automotive and transportation-focused conglomerate, owns 41.1% of Penske Truck Leasing; Penske Automotive Group (NYSE: PAG), owns 28.9% of Penske Transportation Solutions, of which Penske Truck Leasing is part; and Mitsui & Co., a Japanese trading company, owns 30%. In its analysis released with the debt rating affirmation, Moody's said Penske Truck Leasing's earnings – which per usual practice were not released as part of the report – should improve 'modestly in 2025, boosted by a slight recovery in rentals.' The metrics included in the report said Penske's operating margin is projected to exceed 11% in 2025. Its ratio of debt to earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, considered extremely important for ratings agencies as it is a key metric for the ability to service debt, is expected to fall below 3.5X. As a point of comparison, even though it is a different industry, shortline operator Patriot Rail recently underwent a ratings review by all three ratings agencies – Moody's, S&P Global and Fitch – and the debt-to-EBITDA ratio there was put at about 5.5X. While the most recent S&P report on Ryder doesn't list its EBITDA ratio, it did say it projected its Earnngs before interest and taxes (EBIT) to interest coverage at 3X to 3.5X in 2024. The Moody's report did not quote a direct EBIT-to-interest number for Penske Truck Leasing but said a ratings upgrade might be possible if the company generated an EBIT-to-interest ratio greater than 3X. (A lower debt-to-EBITDA ratio is positive; a higher EBIT-to-interest ratio is also positive.) In the latest 10-K report, PAG said its equity in the earnings of the affiliates, which includes PTS (which in turn includes 28.9% of Penske Truck Leasing), was $197.6 million last year, $298.8 million in 2023 and $490.7 million in 2022. Penske Truck Rental this year is expected to implement what Moody's said was a 'planned rental fleet contraction.' That is expected to help increase free cash flow, another major benchmark for ratings agencies. Although Moody's said the contraction will result in 'modestly positive' free cash flow, its liquidity position 'reflects persistently negative free cash flow.' The reason, the agency said, is that Penske Truck Leasing has heavy reliance on used equipment sales to generate cash. The negative free cash flow, Moody's said, is largely the result of using short-term financing to line up with the revenue from those leases. With the planned reduction in the size of its fleet, the need for that financing will drop, resulting in greater free cash flow, Moody's said. The nature of Penske's business, with its perpetual need to invest in new equipment, means the company has 'sizable ongoing debt maturities' which Moody's ticked off. The key parts of that: an unsecured revolving credit facility ($2.25 billion) and its commercial paper program ($2 billion). The move by Moody's to affirm the debt rating also affirmed its outlook on Penske Truck Leasing as stable, meaning conditions are not present for an upgrade or downgrade to its rating anytime soon. 'The stable outlook reflects our expectation that key secular trends will continue to support growth in outsourcing for Penske's services,' the agency said. 'The outlook also reflects our expectation that trucking market fundamentals will be flat in 2025, not deteriorating further but not meaningfully improving.' Although the rating is stable, Moody's said the debt rating could be upgraded if the Penske Truck Leasing debt-to-EBITDA ratio could be maintained below 3X and the EBIT-to-interest ratio stays above 3X. A downgrade could be triggered if the operating margin fell below 7%, debt-to-EBITDA rose above 4% and EBIT-to-interest declined toward 2X. More articles by John Kingston XPO lawsuit against 2 ex-employees gives look into noncompete agreements Chalk up another nuclear verdict: More than $21M in Los Angeles case 'What did these men do?' judge asks in throwing out indictment of NFI's Brown The post Penske Truck Leasing hangs on to investment-grade debt rating from Moody's appeared first on FreightWaves. Sign in to access your portfolio
