Bulk Freight News & Industry Updates - Stay Ahead in Trucking

Mark Szakonyi, Associate Editor | Jun 29, 2012 7:10PM GMT The Journal of Commerce Online - News Story Washington | Freight Brokers | Regulation | United States Increased bond surety to $75,000 aimed at preventing fraud The newly-passed surface transportation bill requires freight brokers and forwarders to have a $75,000 surety bond, a mandate that supporters said will help prevent fraud in the industry. Transportation Intermediaries Association President and CEO Bob Voltmann said the requ

Tulsa, OK (PRWEB) June 29, 2012 The transportation industry made national headlines this week with an article in USA Today detailing the escalating shortage of qualified truck drivers. This shortage has lead to tightened capacity for shippers, higher rates and, in many cases, delayed deliveries. But many shippers are finding solutions and relief by outsourcing their transportation to third party logistics (3PL) companies like Conexus. "These are the times when a 3PL can deliver meaningful

Logistics in the U.S. – Facts at a Glance Every facet of American life is touched by transportation. With freight being the economic staple that it is, every haul is a piece of a complex logistical puzzle that powers our nation. We've dug up some interesting factoids to help shed some light on just how large of a role transportation plays! The US is comprised of 566 railroads (138,623 railroad miles). Total 2011 U.S. logistics spend was estimated at $1.28 trillion up 6.6% over 2010. Accordin

by The Associated Press 10:12 PM, Saturday, June 30 2012 | 427 views | 0 | 2 | | LITTLE ROCK (AP) -- A $4 million tax break for Arkansas truckers goes into effect on Monday with the start of the new fiscal year. And Gov. Mike Beebe still isn't happy about it. The tax reduction on commercial vehicles was to have helped the freight industry offset a proposed diesel fuel tax increase for road repairs. The trucking lobby dropped its support of the diesel tax hike but the vehicle tax cut sta

Ed Banning, founder of Trinity Logistics, traveled to Springfield, Mass. with his wife, Deana June 1 to attend the National Convention Antique Truck Show and received a Golden Achievement award from the American Truck Historical Society for over 50 years of service in the trucking industry. "Mr. Ed" began this lifelong career in his father's business, Service Trucking, in Federalsburg, Md. at the early age of 14 and has been trucking along ever since. When Service Trucking closed its doors,

Grain Valley, Mo.) – The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association, OOIDA, thanked the U.S. House of Representatives on behalf of all truckers today for passing an amendment that would block the Department of Transportation from advancing regulations mandating electronic on-board recorders, event data recorders and global positioning system tracking of commercial and personnel vehicles. The amendment to the annual transportation funding appropriations bill being debated in the House rig

CORPUS CHRISTI, TX -- Do your drivers enter the U.S.? If yes, do you have a very clear unambiguous policy pertaining to cell-phone use? If yes to that, do you enforce it? If not, read on. In early May, Coca-Cola was sued, successfully, for $21 million after one of their sales reps was involved in an accident that injured a 37-year-old woman. The injured woman's lawyers convinced a jury that even though Coca Cola does have a cell-phone policy for company drivers, it is "vague and ambiguo

For the second time in as many days, a burglary victim has turned the tables on the suspects. In the latest incident, a trucker beat a man to death after he was apparently found burglarizing the trucker%u219s parked 18-wheeler in northeast Harris County late Monday night. The incident occurred in the 8800 block of C. E. King Parkway near Tidwell about 10:20 p.m., according to the Harris County Sheriff's Office. Deputies said the trucker had parked his truck and later when he returned to

Houston, Texas - For the second time in as many days, a burglary victim has turned the tables on the suspects. In the latest incident, a trucker beat a man to death after he was apparently found burglarizing the trucker's parked 18-wheeler in northeast Harris County late Monday night. The incident occurred in the 8800 block of C. E. King Parkway near Tidwell about 10:20 p.m., according to the Harris County Sheriff's Office. Deputies said the trucker had parked his truck and later when h

Posted: Jun 27, 2012 09:57 AM | Last Updated: Jun 27, 2012 09:57 AM CHATTANOOGA, TN -- Transport Capital Partners (TCP) Second Quarter Business Expectations survey are showing that carriers are still hesitant to add capacity. According to the survey, 71 percent of carriers expect to add little or no capacity, a 6 percent increase from last quarter. The reason for the drop in confidence, said Richard Mikes, TCP Partner, is because the "industry is certainly bearing the burdens of more fede

Having followed a recent LinkedIn blog discussion on A Truckload, Trucking, Logistics, Supply Chain, 3PL, Distribution group, I feel compelled to comment on some of the realities in calculating Heavy Commercial Vehicle (truck) Owning and Operating costs. Before we start, let me say that the cost of owning and operating a truck has nothing to do with market-driven rates! Rate per mile is simply set against supply versus demand. The cost of each trucking opportunity varies according to a number of

MINNEAPOLIS, June 27, 2012 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- Cargill announced today it will build a new facility in Bovina, Tx for various feed product production including its Sweet Bran® and RAMP specialty feeds. The facility will be located on an adjoining property to an existing Cargill Cattle Feeders (CCF) location. Click Here to Read Full Story

OSHA has ordered Brush Creek-based Mark Alvis, Inc. to reinstate a former employee and pay him more than $180,000 in back pay, interest, and damages. Mark Alvis is a commercial motor carrier that transports goods throughout the United States. Click Here to Read Full Story

Zanesvilletimesrecorder.com ZANESVILLE -- Jeff Moore said he could be forced to curtail purchases of equipment or new trucks, or hiring new employees, if he and other trucking firms are required to retrofit their fleets of over-the-road trucks with on-board recording devices, "black boxes" that are similar to those used in commercial jet aircraft. Click He

For the second time in as many days, a burglary victim has turned the tables on the suspects. In the latest incident, a trucker beat a man to death after he was apparently found burglarizing the trucker's parked 18-wheeler in northeast Harris County late Monday night. The incident occurred in the 8800 block of C. E. King Parkway near Tidwell about 10:20 p.m., according to the Harris County Sheriff's Office. Deputies said the trucker had parked his truck and later when he returned to the

By JUSTIN JUOZAPAVICIUS The Associated Press Tulsa, OK -- Two freight trains that collided in an Oklahoma wheat field weren't blowing their horns or flashing their lights as they hurtled toward each other, according to long-haul trucker from Independence who watched helplessly from a highway as the locomotives collided head-on. Three of the four crew members assigned to the trains were still missing Monday, and investigators feared they couldn't have survived the Sunday crash and tremend

Written by Paul Davidson USA Today Attention, out-of-work Americans: Want to be a trucker? Click Here to Read Full Story

By Paul Davidson, USA TODAY Attention out-of-work Americans: Want to be a trucker? A worsening shortage of truck drivers is pushing up freight rates and delaying some deliveries, defying the weak economy, high unemployment and falling gasoline prices. Click Here to Read Full Story

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS June 24, 2012 - 2:03 pm EDT GREAT FALLS, Mont. -- Montana farm officials are concerned farmers might lose the advantage of competitive bidding from two grain companies that recently became owned by a Japanese conglomerate. Click Here to Read Full Story

Reuters * Energy companies broaden reach into other commodities * Commodities trading houses seek to diversify risk * Less jobs for European traders, more in emerging markets By Susan Thomas LONDON, June 21 (Reuters) - The landscape is changing for commodities merchants as global economic strength swings east, encouraging them to diversify into new products and increase scale while they also can skim the best traders off struggling hedge funds and banks. Moves by European and U

http://www.greatfallstribune.com/article/20120622/BUSINESS/206220340/What-will-effect-Marubeni-purchase-Region-s-two-major-grain-marketers-owned-by-same-company

by Kens5.com staff Posted on June 22, 2012 at 7:48 AM Updated today at 8:38 AM BEXAR COUNTY -- The driver of an 18-wheeler is dead after being smashed by his own cargo in a wreck on I-10 late Thursday night. The name of the deceased was not immediately available. Bexar County deputies said the trucker apparently did not see two other 18-wheelers stop on I-10 near Ralph Fair Road and slammed into the rear of the truck in front of him around 11 p.m. The long metal pipes the victim was haul

By QMI Agency Posted 2 hours ago ST. CATHARINES - A St. Catharines truck driver who convinced a court that requiring speed limiters on trucks is unconstitutional, hopes the ruling will some day lead to new laws in the province. The Ministry of Transportation said Thursday it will appeal the June 6 provincial offences court ruling in Welland that found speed limiters -- also known as governors -- conflict with Gene Michaud's right to security of person under the charter of rights and freedom

Several weeks ago, the FMCSA was given the authority to shut down a carrier if it finds that carrier was created to avoid enforcement of a poor safety record. The new rule, which was published in late April, will go into effect on June 28, 2012 and also gives the FMCSA authority to consolidate records of "reincarnated" carriers with those companies they are affiliated with. Since the inception of this rule, the FMCSA has been extremely busy cracking down on these reincarnated carriers, shutti

NEWS - NORTH CAROLINA & REGIONAL - WIRE CATAWBA, N.C. -- Crews worked for hours to clean up after a truck carrying 50,000 pounds of corn overturned in Catawba County. The Hickory Daily Record (http://bit.ly/KZ6uGF) reported Catawba Fire Chief Donald Robinson says the wreck happened early Thursday when the trailer rain off the road. Robinson says the wheels caught a culvert and sheared the back of the trailer off. The trailer and truck then flipped, spilling corn everywhere. The truck

Submitted by Fox19 Web Staff Thursday, June 21st, 2012, 7:26am CINCINNATI, OH (FOX19)- FOX19 has uncovered documents confirming a federal investigation into how T&T Enterprises, a trucking company based in West Chester, was able to land lucrative contracts to haul mail and equipment for the U.S. Postal Service. A whistleblower "alleged that (T&T) has been fraudulently obtaining" the contracts "with the help of a Postal contracting employee," according to a U.S. Dept. of Labor investigator

MOBILE, Ala. – The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited trucking company Alabama Motor Express Inc. in Ashford for 17 safety violations. OSHA opened an inspection in March under the agency's Site-Specific Targeting Program, which directs enforcement resources to workplaces with higher-than-average rates of injuries and illnesses. Proposed penalties total $56,700. Thirteen serious violations include failing to perform a personal protective equipmen

By Staff reports GateHouse News Service Posted Jun 21, 2012 @ 10:04 AM Holland -- Locally-based trucking company Holland, a subsidiary of YRC Worldwide, will hire an additional 450 over-the road and local city drivers in the next few months. Holland has hired nearly 300 drivers so far this year throughout the Midwest and hired 750 drivers last year. The company is located at 750 E. 40th Street in Holland. More information about the company is available at hollandregional.com.