General Motors will recall 5,000 heavy-duty vans due to an alternator issue that could cause an engine fire. The recall affects 2010 Chevrolet Express and GMC Savana 2500, 3500 and 4500 models. Light-duty vans use a different alternator. Most of the affected vans are in fleets.
Used-car dealers say they're having a tough time finding inventory, so used-car prices are skyrocketing. A vehicle that sold for $5,000 a year ago may cost upwards of $8,000 today. The Cash for Clunkers program removed nearly 700,000 trade-ins that were potential used car sales.
The FMCSA January 2010 ban on interstate truck driver texting included a $2,750 fine per incident. New rulemaking proposes adding disqualification from driving for 2nd and 3rd offense within 3-years of 60- and 120-days respectively.
Though unsuccessful in a recent Ohio case, the spread of GPS devices that record driving data may be useful in overturning bogus speeding tickets. The appeals court decision implied that if a better case had been made to explain the technology, it may have overcome the aerial observational and stopwatch evidence of the police.
RL Polk says more vehicles are being scrapped than added to the road. Also, the average age of vehicles on the road is climbing. In a recent 15-month period, 14.8 million vehicles were scrapped while 13.6 million new vehicles were registered. On average, US vehicles are 10.2 years old.