Thursday July 29, 2010

July 28, 2010

Small trucking companies remain locked in a battle with Marine Atlantic over the ferry booking system. Frustrated truckers are threatening to stage protests at the ferry terminals in North Sydney in Nova Scotia and Port aux Basques, in southwestern Newfoundland, which could disrupt ferry service in the Cabot Strait. They say the new reservation system is resulting in long waits, and that's putting them out of business. "If Marine Atlantic keeps taking food from our table, we got no other choice. We...

July 27, 2010

A key index of U.S. trucking shipments fell 1.4 percent in June from May, the trucking industry's main trade group said Tuesday, a sign an economist says indicates the economy is slowing. The American Trucking Associations said the advance seasonally adjusted truck tonnage index fell to 108.5 last month. May tonnage also fell. That's the first back-to-back tonnage decline in more than a year.

Diesel increased after five straight weeks of decline, rising 2 cents to $2.919 a gallon, the Department of Energy said Monday. The price is still lower than it was at the beginning of the month, when it averaged $2.924 on July 5. Trucking's main fuel is...

July 26, 2010

While the economic recovery has been showing signs of slowing, this is not cause for concern that we'll see a double dip recession, FTR Associates pointed out during a webinar Friday. During "The State of Freight" webinar, Noel Perry, FTR managing director and senior consultant, said that while a slow recovery is unusual, economies do not recover in a completely...

July 23, 2010

Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-NJ, has filed a bill to prioritize and fund freight rail, ports and multimodal infrastructure with grants. Lautenberg, who chairs the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, introduced the bill, S3629, on Thursday, July 22, calling it the Focusing Resources, Economic Investment, and Guidance to Help Transportation Act of 2010...

July 22, 2010

Swift Holdings Corp., the Phoenix- based trucking company owned by Jerry Moyes, filed for an initial public offering to raise as much as $700 million. The company will use the proceeds to repay a portion of its existing senior secured credit facility, according to its filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission today. Swift didn’t say how many shares it planned...

July 21, 2010

The California Highway Patrol reopened southbound lanes of Interstate 5 some eight hours after a flipped big-rig shut down travel lanes and led to a long morning of gridlock for commuters and truckers. Traffic came to a halt after Tuesday's...

July 20, 2010

Truck collisions and near-collisions are low from January through June, but more than triple at points between July and November, according to a new analysis of truck crash data. Also, collisions and near collisions peak on Tuesdays and Fridays...

When The Trucker arrived at the Petro here to interview drivers for feature stories, we happened upon Joe Elmer as he sat reading our July 1 issue. Elmer, a driver for 32 years, of Cabot, Ark., was at the truck stop because later that day he’d be...

July 19, 2010

Despite growing signs the trucking industry is finally recovering from a four-year recession, access to credit remains stubbornly tight and cautious truckers seem reluctant to borrow, according to a quarterly survey by M&A firm Transport Capital Partners. A second-quarter survey of about 160 truckers, most of whom have annual revenues of more than $25 million, found that 60%...

July 16, 2010

The Freight Transportation Services Index fell 0.4 percent in May from April, declining after two consecutive monthly increases, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics reported July 14. BTS reported the Freight TSI has...

July 15, 2010

Trucking company Con-way Inc. said Wednesday it's introducing a double stack system to some trailers in its fleet in an effort to squeeze more freight into each truck. In the double stack system, thick aluminum beams are placed like bookshelves at certain points along the walls of the trailer. They can be adjusted according to how tall the freight is on top or bottom. They...

July 14, 2010

Only 4.4% of drivers stopped for inspections in this year’s Roadcheck event held last month were placed out service — the same percentage as last year when driver compliance hit an all-time high for the annual safety inspection event held across North...

July 13, 2010

The World’s Largest Truckstop celebrated America’s truckers July 8-9 as literally tens of thousands of truckers and their families poured into this eastern Iowa city for the 31st Annual Walcott Truckers Jamboree. The two-day event featured over 175 exhibits...

July 12, 2010

YRC Worldwide Inc. is continuing to signal a more positive second quarter, and Wall Street analysts say the trucking market is picking up. But some of those analysts still are unsure about the Overland Park-based trucker’s (Nasdaq: YRCW) long-term viability. “YRCW’s near-term liquidity appears sufficient to remain a going concern,” RW Baird analyst Jon Langenfeld wrote in a research note. “However, if share losses continue, bankruptcy risk rises...

Iowa Department of Transportation officials say it will take at least five more years to complete the widening of U.S. Highway 20 to four lanes for its entire length across northern Iowa, from Sioux City to Dubuque. State transportation officials predicted a...

July 9, 2010

The U.S. transportation system is facing a serious crisis in years ahead, with another 1.8 million trucks expected to be on the roads in 10 years, according to a recent study by the American Association of State Highway and...

July 8, 2010

The Golden Age of Trucking Museum will be shutting down until further notice on July 20. Located in Middlebury, Connecticut the museum was founded in July 1998 by Richard and Frances Guerrera. Displayed in the Showroom are antique trucks ranging from the early 1900's to the late 1970's. Mack, GMC, Diamond T, Autocar, Brockway, White, International, Pierce Arrow, Republic, Jeep, Dodge, Sterling and others are all represented in the display.