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TRUCKING INDUSTRY NEWS * USA & Canada
* California: Trucking industry faces tough new regulations
Los Angeles,CAL,USA -The Packer, by Tom Burfield -29 June 2010: -- Los Angeles area shippers say they haven’t experienced any major problems securing adequate transportation for their produce this season, but trucking firms were hit with some strict new requirements from the California Air Resources Board early this year. Now, that board threatens to involve transportation brokers, shippers and drivers in enforcement of air-quality rules... Regulations took effect Jan. 1 requiring California-based truckers to upgrade or retrofit trailer refrigeration units built before 2003 or to buy new units that meet stricter air-quality standards. This, said David Lund, vice president of sales and operations for Allen Lund Co., La Canada, Calif., has resulted in increased costs... Rates to ship produce from California to the Midwest or East Coast are $500 to $1,500 higher this year than last year, he estimated... Now, CARB is proposing to warn transportation brokers, shippers and drivers the first time they load noncompliant trailers and to issue a $1,000 fine for the second offense... Writing in the company’s newsletter, Kenny Lund, vice president of support operations for Allen Lund Co. said that only California-based brokers would have to comply with these regulations... (Photo from allenlund: Allen Lund Co.'s trucks fleet)
* DC - Trucking adds more jobs
Washington,DC,USA -eTrucker, by Avery Vise -1 July 2010: -- The for-hire trucking industry added jobs for the third consecutive month in June, according to preliminary figures released July 2 by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics... Payroll employment was up 1,000 over May, but BLS also has revised May figures upward by nearly 4,000. Combined with strong gains in April, payroll employment in trucking is up 8,800 jobs since March, according to preliminary BLS numbers... The trucking industry is still chipping away at big job losses in the last half of 2009. The number of trucking jobs was down 24,000, or 1.9 percent, in June compared to June 2009, according to the latest BLS numbers. Payroll employment was 1.236 million jobs – down 217,200 or 14... (Photo from i48.tinypic: USA's trucker)
* Kansas - Court Orders YRC to Pay Bondholders $21.6 Million. Trucking giant faces Aug. 9 deadline to pay or challenge ruling on debt exchange
Topeka,Kansas,USA -The Journal of Commerce Online, by William B. Cassidy -Jul 6, 2010: -- YRC Worldwide will have to pay bondholders who refused its debt-for-equity swap $21.6 million next month, the U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas ruled... The order comes as YRC, pressed by rising costs, struggles to boost its liquidity... The company said it might appeal the July 1 federal court order, which holds YRC must fulfill its obligations to bondholders that turned down the exchange in December... The exchange eliminated $464 million in debt by giving bondholders ownership of YRC Worldwide, steering the trucking company away from a potential bankruptcy... A minority of bondholders, however, turned down the deal. YRC said the exchange relieved it of any obligation to those bondholders, but the court said otherwise... (Photo from wikipedia: Corporate headquarters in Overland Park, Kansas)
* Ohio - Truck Capacity Tightens in West, Southeast
Independence,OH,USA -The Journal of Commerce Online, by William B. Cassidy -Jul 7, 2010: -- Longbow Research index jumps 18 percent as carriers rein in truck fleets... Truckload capacity is tightening, especially along the West Coast and in parts of the Southeast, Longbow Research says, even as other reports indicate slower growth in demand for trucking services and an economic recovery shifting to a lower gear... That may indicate trucking companies remain cautious about the longevity of a surge in truckload freight that began earlier this year and are keeping a tight rein on their tractor-trailer fleets. That is likely to push up truck pricing this summer... The barometer is a measure of available truckload freight relative to available equipment capacity. The barometer rises as capacity tightens... In contrast, Morgan Stanley Research's Truckload Freight Index has declined in recent weeks, dropping 10.1 percent from its peak on May 14 through June 25. The TFI measures incremental truckload demand against capacity... Even if demand moderates, there is still plenty of freight available to move. The Cass Freight Index for shipments shot up 9.1 percent in June over May, its fifth straight month-over-month improvement and its biggest sequential leap this year... (Photo from longbowresearch: Longbow Research headquarter in Independence, Ohio)
* Virginia: Cuts State Inspections for Interstate Trucks. State hopes to draw more trucking business by accepting federal inspection results
Richmond,VA,USA -The Journal of Commerce Online, by William B. Cassidy -Jul 7, 2010: ... Virginia is trying to attract interstate trucking business -- and registration revenue -- by eliminating what it calls duplicative state safety inspections... Interstate trucks registered in Virginia and complying with annual federal inspection requirements will get a green light from the state... Many fleets will be able to check their own vehicles under a self-inspection program authorized by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration... The state hopes eliminating its annual safety checks will lead more interstate truckers to base and register vehicles -- and pay registration fees -- in Virginia... Several major interstate trucking companies are based in Virginia, including UPS Freight and Estes Express Lines, both with headquarters in Richmond... The Atlanta,GA.-based transportation giant plans to register 300 interstate trucks in Virginia this summer... (Photo from inboundlogistics: Estes Express Lines' loaded truck)
* Canada - Truckload Rates Rise. Canadian General Freight Index increased 3.9 percent in April
Toronto,ONT,CAN -The Journal of Commerce Online, by William B. Cassidy -Jul 7, 2010: -- Shippers in Canada are paying more to move truckload freight, according to the latest Canadian General Freight Index... The index, released July 5, showed a 3.9 percent increase in overall freight costs in April over March, as well as a 3.9 percent rise in base rates, excluding fuel surcharges. Those surcharges dropped 1.4 percent, the index said... It was the strongest increase in overall freight costs and base rates reported by the Canadian General Freight Index this year and a reverse from March, when overall costs and rates declined from February... The CGFI tracks changes in transportation prices paid by Canadian shippers, excluding bulk, liquid and other specialty transportation services. It is based on data from Nulogx, a Canadian freight payment and transportation management firm... After plummeting last year, base rates have been volatile north of the border, according to the CGFI. Freight costs for Canadian shippers fell 9.6 percent in 2009, according to the CGFI, with base rates falling 7.8 percent last year... This year, rates rose 2.1 percent in February from the previous month but fell 1.9 percent in March before rising 3.9 percent in April... (Photo from comps.fotosearch: loaded logging truck)
* DC - Capacity shortage driving demand for higher weight limits
Washington,DC,USA -Fleet Owner, by Sean Kilcarr -Jul 6, 2010: -- A growing shortage of freight capacity across the transportation sector – along with an increasing need to boost economic productivity – is putting more support behind legislative efforts to increase weight limits for U.S. commercial trucks... Last week, for example, Rep. Jean Schmidt (R- OH) and Rep. Steve Kagen (D-WI) along with seven other Congressional members wrote an open letter to the House of Representatives’ Committee on Agriculture in support of the Safe and Efficient Transportation Act, H.R. 1799, which would boost the current 80,000-lb federal weight limit on commercial trucks to 97,000 lbs... Without changing truck size, the additional axle would maintain current braking capacity and weight-per-tire distribution and minimizes pavement wear, according to the legislation. And a user fee imposed within the bill would aim to fund bridge repairs caused by these heavier weights... (Photo from blog.fleetowner: 97,000 lbs. commercial truck)
* Canada - Warrantless searches upheld by Canada’s high court
Toronto,ONT,Canada -Land Line Magazine -July 9, 2010: -- The Supreme Court of Canada ruled that a police officer was justified in conducting a warrantless search on a tractor-trailer after finding driver logbook violations and an expired fuel sticker... The drivers claimed their rights were violated, even though the police search turned up $115,000 in cash and 392 pounds of marijuana... The truck driver, John Vatsis, and co-driver Regent Nolet, both of Quebec, were pulled over in February 2004 along the Trans-Canada Highway in Saskatchewan by a lone officer with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police... Upon requesting credentials from the driver, the officer noticed violations, which included an expired IFTA fuel sticker and a logbook that did not correspond to bills of lading. The officer believed that was enough to conduct a warrantless search for more possible violations of the Highways and Transportation Act...
* California - Senate panel OKs help for drayage trucks
Sacramento,CAL,USA -Land Line Magazine -July 9, 2010: -- Certain small-business trucking operations in California could soon have another opportunity to qualify for grants to bring their trucks into compliance with new emissions regulations... The Senate Transportation and Housing Committee unanimously approved a bill that would make available $20 million for drayage trucks that have yet to comply with the California Air Resources Board’s drayage truck regulation... The funds would be routed from the state’s Air Quality Improvement Fund to the Air Resources Board for distribution... Until Jan. 1, 2013, funding would be available for fleets with three or fewer trucks that service the state’s ports and rail yards. Funding could only be used for the purchase of equipment that meets the 2007 model-year or newer engine standards...
Labels: trucking industry news USA
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