Trucking News

The Harbor Trucking Association of Southern California has formed its own chassis pool to ensure its member companies will have access to the equipment they need even when terminals in Los Angeles-Long Beach are experiencing equipment shortages or dislocations.

Spot market truck freight volumes in the U.S. dropped 10 percent in April from March, but remained above April 2013 levels, according to DAT Solutions. The sagging spot market is another indication that the U.S. economy has yet to find the lever to pull to restore the stronger growth it enjoyed in 2014.

Marine terminal operators, warehouses and truck facilities in California could be called upon to manage harmful emissions under the California Air Resources Board’s proposed Sustainable Freight Plan, according to a shipping industry representative.

Palletways, one of several groups offering shippers a palletized freight network in Europe, says it plans eastward expansion as cross-border volume within its network grows.

The acquisition of Hazen Final Mile gives TransForce and same-day logistics subsidiary Dynamex a longer reach in e-commerce shipping markets.

Online retails sales in the U.S. marked another record-breaking quarter in the first three months of 2015 after an especially harsh winter kept many consumers inside, shopping from the warmth of their own homes.

Truck tonnage slipped 3 percent in April from March and rose only 1 percent from a year ago, but remains well above 2013 levels, according to the American Trucking Associations. That signals trucking may be driving across a new economic plateau.

C.H. Robinson Worldwide is priming its $330 million Global Forwarding division for faster growth in 2015, naming Mike Short president and opening new offices in Asia and Europe.

The number of heavy truck drivers in the U.S. rose more quickly last year, breaking past 1.6 million for the first time since 2008, as higher pay and strong freight demand attracted recruits. Demand still reportedly outstrips the number of drivers, however, which is lower than in any year from 2005-2008.

The number of tractor-trailers crossing U.S. borders rose 2.4 percent in the first quarter, following a 4 percent increase last year, according to Department of Transportation data. Border crossings between the U.S. and Mexico outpaced U.S.-Canadian truck traffic.

As truck driver pay moves up by double-digits, trucking operators need to look beyond a decades-old business model for new ways to attract, keep and satisfy drivers. Treating them better is step one, a trucking veteran says. Guaranteed salaries may be another.

The Teamsters union lost a representation election at FedEx Freight's Chicago Heights, Illinois, terminal, the latest setback in the union's effort to organize the largest U.S. less-than-truckload carrier. So far, the Teamsters have organized four FedEx Freight terminals.

Everybody's working for the weekend, the song goes, but cargo thieves work on the weekend, with most thefts occurring Friday and Saturday. Memorial Day weekend could see a spike in activity, after an increase in thefts in the first quarter.

ACT Research expects the number of active Class 8 tractors in the U.S. to climb from 1.35 million last year to 1.43 million this year, but faster economic growth and a driver shortage could blunt any advantage for shippers.

U.S. shipment volumes and spending rose in April from March, but were down year-over-year, thanks to tough comparisons with a booming economy in 2014, Cass Information Systems said. The freight payment provider expects more growth ahead.

The JOC Truckload Capacity Index neared a six-year high as large truckload carriers added equipment, largely to dedicated operations, in the first quarter of 2015. That gave U.S. shippers some relief from landside capacity constraints that tightened in 2014.

U.S. trucking companies added 1,900 jobs in April, reversing a sharp decline in March and boosting the JOC For-Hire Trucking Employment Index to 99.5 -- near its pre-recession peak.

Strong gains in chemical manufacturing make chemicals hauler Quality Distribution an attractive acquisition target for a private equity firm such as Apax Partners. Expect Apax to help fuel Quality's expansion through additional acquisitions.

The total revenue of U.S. trucking operators, for-hire and private, broke higher than $700 billion for the first time last year, as a stronger economy generated freight and supported higher truck pricing.

Waberer’s International, one of Europe’s largest trucking operators, is purchasing 500 new trailers as it expands business in Germany and its freight-hauling network in western Europe.

USA Truck posted its first profitable first quarter in eight years this week. It also marks the fourth consecutive profitable quarter for the firm as it pursues a new corporate strategy as a “capacity solutions provider,” the company said.

Fresh off the announcement of yet another acquisition, XPO Logistics’ hunger can’t be sated with CEO Bradley Jacobs eying more deals in Europe and North America.

Canadian trucking operator Manitoulin Group acquired Ridsdale Transport, a less-than-truckload carrier based in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. The acquisition makes Manitoulin the province’s largest transportation provider, the company said.

A change in truck driver hours-of-service rules and a slower-than-expected economy delivered additional “surge capacity” to shippers in the first quarter, Noël Perry said at the 2015 ALK Transportation Technology Summit in Princeton, New Jersey, on Tuesday.

There’s a silver lining in every sky-high stack of containers — if you’re an expedited trucking company. For carriers that move goods quickly by any and all means possible, the container logjam that built up during the West Coast port labor dispute was simply a bonanza.

For the first time in seven years, ArcBest Corporation posted a first-quarter profit, thanks in large part to competitive pricing in spite of diminishing volumes, the company said Monday.

More driving schools, acquisitions and an expanded owner-operator fleet helped Celadon Trucking field more capacity and increase revenue and profit in the first quarter.

Delays in processing high volumes of containers at West Coast warehouses and DCs point to the need for better packing and loading of containers in Asia, a trucking executive says.

YRC Worldwide is "transitioning to a state of profitability," cutting freight that won't pay its way and raising prices. The LTL operator is willing to accept fewer shipments and less revenue if its bottom line can eventually come out on top.

Despite sluggish volumes, higher pricing helped boost first-quarter earnings to record levels, freight carrier Saia reported this week.

Old Dominion Freight Line didn't brake for the general slowdown apparent in first-quarter U.S. GDP. The less-than-truckload carrier reinvested earnings in expansion.

UPS Freight is adding liquefied natural gas-powered tractors to its less-than-truckload fleet, cutting emissions and, hopefully, long-term term fuel costs. Shippers still want trucking partners to help them reach sustainability goals.

The softening U.S. truckload spot market and more balanced capacity point to shippers seeking to secure more trucks from asset-based contractual partners.

As the U.S. economy came screeching to a halt in the first quarter — at least those parts that contribute to gross domestic product growth — UPS improved revenue, shipment volumes and profit, a sign that things may not be as bad as the economic indicators seem to say.

Picketing by truck drivers seeking union status continued Tuesday at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, indicating that the campaign by the Teamsters union to organize harbor truckers throughout the harbor is not going away anytime soon.

Swift Transportation will hike driver pay for the second time in less than a year as it plans to expand truck capacity 4.5 percent across multiple divisions in 2015. Expect shipper rates to keep pace.

General Mills will be the first tenant at a tri-modal logistics facility near Manchester, England, set to open next year. The inland port will offer rail, truck and short-sea shipping links.

Available warehousing and distribution space is getting harder to find and more expensive as demand outpaces construction, according to Jones Lang LaSalle.

Large, diversified truckload carriers found detours around the "soft patch" in the U.S. economy during the first quarter, with most increasing revenue and profit. A lack of drivers may have held back some companies.