LTL

Canada's second-largest LTL operator pushed deeper into Western Canada by acquiring a division of Alberta-based Hi-Way 13.

Railroads and trucking companies said shipping delays would be unavoidable Tuesday in the wake of severe winter weather that dropped as much as 2 feet of snow in some corners of the Northeast.

Asset-light less-than-truckload carrier Shift Freight is expanding from its U.S. West Coast base to the Midwest and Northeast, building out its third-party-based LTL network.

U.S. freight shipments and shipper transport spending both dropped from the previous month in December, but remained close to a post-recession high, according to the Cass Freight Index.

Con-way Freight drivers and dockworkers in Bakersfield, California, this week voted to not join the Teamsters, marking the fifth time company employees have rejected the union.

For-hire trucking companies tracked by the Labor Department hired 7,300 employees in December, capping a year-end hiring surge.

Rising volumes propelled FedEx profit up 23 percent year-over-year to $616 million in its second quarter ended Nov. 30, the second-largest U.S. transport operator reported today.

An American Trucking Associations survey of 130 trucking companies places median truck driver pay in a range from $46,000 to $73,000 a year, depending on the type of company they work for and freight they haul.

Encouraged by strong manufacturing activity and freight demand, less-than-truckload carriers are raising their non-contract and contract rates. Old Dominion Freight Line is the latest LTL carrier to issue an average general rate increase of 4.5 percent effective Jan. 5.

Con-way Freight workers in Miami Lakes, Florida, voted to join the Teamsters union, making their facility the third in Con-way's LTL network to go union. Three other terminals have rejected the Teamsters.

Regional LTL carrier Holland commits to hiring 500 veterans, seeking drivers and other workers as the U.S. military reduces its overseas forces.

As large LTL carriers and international shippers begin to develop density-based pricing alternatives, the classification system still dominates LTL costing and, by extension, pricing.

The likelihood that truck drivers will have different hours of service rules next year is increasing, as Congress wraps language that will change suspend some 2013 HOS changes into its $1 trillion spending bill.

Freight shipments and spending by shippers dropped slightly in November, but remain at a post-recession high point, according to the latest Cass Freight Index.

An amendment that would suspend the current 34-hour restart provision in the truck driver hours of service rules pending further study is buried deep within the omnibus spending bill being crafted by Congress. Will it survive as Congress struggles to pass spending legislation before midnight Dec. 12 to avoid a government shutdown?

The U.S. trucking industry is committing to hire 100,000 military veterans over the next two years to fight a shortage of truck drivers as the military begins to reduce the number of active service members.

Manitoulin Global Forwarding, part of one of Canada’s largest freight companies, is strengthening its links to Asian markets and Western Canada base by acquiring Canfleet Logistics of Vancouver, British Columbia, which offers ocean export and logistics services.

Pricing power and advances in technology are spurring innovation in LTL pricing, encouraging carriers to test out dimensional-weight pricing and other alternatives to class-based tariff rates as they seek more dynamic, flexible pricing models.

The value of U.S. trade with Mexico and Canada increased by $7.8 billion in September, exceeding $100 billion for the seventh straight month as manufacturing activity and freight shipping in all three North American Free Trade Agreement partners expanded.

The third quarter was good to practically all the publicly owned U.S. trucking companies: none reported losses, and their combined revenue rose 10.7 percent to more than $10 billion, supported by a second quarter of stronger freight demand and economic growth.

Higher trucking rates drove year-over-year increases in less-than-truckload yield in the third quarter, as the U.S. economy expanded more than 3 percent for the second straight quarter. Lower diesel prices and reduced surcharges, however, curbed yield gains at many carriers.

Banking on economic expansion and its own history, Old Dominion Freight Line plans to repurchase as much as $200 million of its own stock over the next two years.

Net orders for the Class 8 trucks that literally keep the economy in motion soared in October, underscoring growing confidence about the strength of the recovery and the outlook for 2015.

William J. Logue, a veteran FedEx executive who rebuilt the company’s industrial trucking business following the 2007-2009 recession, will retire Dec. 31, FedEx said today.

Less-than-truckload carrier ABF Freight System is gaining more freight from competing modes as truckload capacity tightens and intermodal service problems frustrate shippers.

Canada's largest trucking operator, TransForce, increased revenue 27 percent in the third quarter while waiting for approval of its proposed acquisition of rival Contrans.

Higher rates and better utilization of its terminals, trucks and drivers are helping Con-way Freight, the second-largest less-than-truckload carrier, significantly increase profits.

U.S. shippers are getting their goods pilfered less but when theft does happen, the losses are more severe, according to a recently released FreightWatch International study.

The wave of stronger economic activity that produced freight for truckload and less-than-truckload carriers alike in the third quarter lifted tonnage, shipments and revenue at YRC Worldwide, giving the $4.9 billion LTL company a chance to improve profitability.

Shippers’ hunger to move more loads from the highway to the rails is growing as they see more signs of tightening truck capacity, and resulting higher rates, C.H. Robinson said yesterday.

In an era when most companies seem intent on doing more with less, Old Dominion Freight Line is doing more with more. The fifth-largest U.S. less-than-truckload carrier hired 868 employees in the third quarter alone to keep pace with its rapidly expanding business.

Saia, the 10th-largest U.S. less-than-truckload carrier, increased tonnage, shipments, revenue and profit in the third quarter, and so far in the fourth quarter sees no signs of a slowdown.

Employees at two Con-way Freight terminals in Southern California rejected the Teamsters while those at another voted for the union. The company could face more elections.

Strong industrial production and manufacturing output mean 'Happy Days' for LTL carriers, despite numerous challenges, the CEO of largest privately owned LTL carrier says.

Shippers and their logistics and transportation providers must collaborate, and not simply negotiate, if they hope to resolve a host of supply chain problems, starting with equipment, personnel and capacity shortages.

The cost of boosting truck driver pay at Con-way Freight will be passed along to shippers starting Oct. 27 in the form of an across-the-board general rate increase, the company said today.

UPS will raise freight rates for air and ground packages, domestic and international shipments and less-than-truckload freight by 4.9 percent on average Dec. 29, the company said Monday.