Bulk Freight News & Industry Updates - Stay Ahead in Trucking

FAULKTON, S.D. -- Authorities say one person has been injured in a grain elevator explosion in Faulkton. The State Fire Marshal is investigating and has not yet determined what caused the explosion at the North Central Famers Elevator site in Faulkton. Faulk County's emergency manager told KELO-TV (http://bit.ly/zxW6o4 ) that the injured worker suffered burns. He was airlifted to a hospital. His name has not yet been released. Two others who were hospitalized as a precaution have been r

Fire contained to dryer apparatus Updated: Friday, 06 Jan 2012, 7:25 PM EST Published : Friday, 06 Jan 2012, 1:38 PM EST GIBSONBURG, Ohio (WUPW) - A three alarm fire at a grain elevator early Friday afternoon in the Village of Gibsonburg kept firefighters quite busy before it was contained to a dryer apparatus inside the facility. Video clip courtesy of Jon Bauer. Witnesses video showed smoke was pouring out of the middle of three silos at the facility. Heavy smoke was pourin

DES MOINES, Iowa -- Cargill Inc. said it will invest $20 million to modernize its soybean crushing plant in Cedar Rapids and close a similar plant in Des Moines to optimize its operations in Iowa amid an overcapacity in soymeal production. The Minneapolis-based company said Thursday that 22 jobs will be eliminated when its Des Moines plant closes Feb. 4. Cargill will continue some business activities at its Des Moines site, including buying soybeans, and will still have 70 employees in the a

Friday morning's commute was brought to a screeching halt around 6:15 a.m. when a semi driver and his rig left the road, crashed through a series of fences and sank through an icy pond. The crash, which happened near mile marker 197 on Interstate 94, according to the Minnesota Highway Patrol, started in the eastbound lane. But driver John Netiffee of Anoka was able to avoid the westbound lanes of traffic and skidded his rig across several hundred yards of ice before it sank into the freezing

A new Trucking Trends survey inaugurated in 2011 revealed that many carriers believe there's little chance to attain rate increases in 2012 and that making a profit is only going to get tougher. However, in a surprise twist, many carriers feel the regulatory hurdles posed by hours-of-service (HOS) reform efforts and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's (FMCSA) new Compliance, Safety, Accountability (CSA) program introduced in 2010 won't be nearly as challenging as many initially

Purchase of Wilburn Archer expands diversified Canadian transportation group Canadian trucking operator Contrans Group purchased Wilburn Archer Trucking, adding the dry bulk trucker to its transportation and logistics subsidiaries. The acquisition expands the dry bulk services Contrans offers alongside liquid bulk, truckload, flatbed, less-than-truckload and waste disposal and logistics services. "There are relatively few opportunities to acquire dry bulk trucking businesses in Ontar

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa, Jan. 5, 2012 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- Cargill will invest approximately $20 million this summer to modernize its soybean crushing plant on the east side of Cedar Rapids. Additional work at the Cedar Rapids facility over the next several years could bring the total investment to $60 million. Meanwhile, reflecting industry overcapacity in soymeal production, Cargill will optimize its soybean crushing operations in Iowa by closing its Des Moines crush plant on Feb. 4, 2012

Retailers and manufacturers criticized new limits on how much time commercial truck drivers can spend behind the wheel. The Department of Transportation issued a final rule that limits the hours truck drivers can work to 70 hours a week, down from 82 hours previously. In addition, drivers must take a 30-minute break after driving eight hours straight. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said the limits "will help prevent fatigue-related truck crashes and save lives." But the Retail I

The for-hire trucking industry added 5,100 new payroll employees in December -- the most in one month since March, according to preliminary numbers released Friday, Jan. 6, by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The gain comes on top of small upward adjustments for October and November. Compared to December 2010, trucking employment is up by 40,100 jobs, or 3.2 percent. Payroll employment is up by 68,800 jobs, or 5.6 percent, since the bottom of trucking employment in March 2010. The number of t

Clinton resident Robert Nelson is like many people who looking for a job. Nelson used to work in construction. "They told me there was a lot of things that was supposed to be built, saying the funds were there. but it's not quick enough," Nelson said. So, Nelson is trying a new line of work, the trucking industry. "It was hard to believe there would be that many opportunities," Nelson added. "We can train 50, 60, 70 people a week," said Barry Henson with the Tennessee Truck Driv

Drive along Route 63 in Iowa or I-74 in Illinois and you'll see them by the score: shiny grain silos, built of galvanized steel, dotting the fields of these top two corn-growing states. The nation's farmers have built up oilseed and grain storage capacity to its highest level in two decades. On-farm storage in silos (also known as bins) climbed to 12.5 billion bushels in December 2010, the most since 1989, according to the latest estimates from the U.S. Agriculture Dept. Bin makers GSI Holdi

Just when you thought the logging and trucking industry couldn't take any more hits, a new round of mill closures in Minnesota - this time on the paper end - left a mark in 2011. "There really hasn't been much change in the timber industry in the last year and no improvement in the dismal state it's been in the last few years," said Scott Dane, executive director of the Associated Contract Loggers & Truckers of Minnesota. Except when it comes to paper. Dane said that through the reces

Victoria's State Government has been advised it needs to increase investment in rail to provide enough track capability to efficiently freight grain from silos to port. The Grain Logistics Taskforce, made up of farmers, grain and rail companies, has made a series of recommendations on how to improve the efficiency and capacity of Victorian grain handling and storage system. Amongst the 32 recommendations are the standardisation of track gauges and truck weight regulations, increasing tra

Texas has one of the highest truck crash rates in the nation. Learn more about the truck safety recommendations issued by the National Transportation Safety Board in an effort to curb crashes. January 05, 2012 /24-7PressRelease/ -- An 18-wheeler hit a bridge and overturned recently on Interstate 30 in Dallas, Texas. While no injuries were reported in the truck accident, the concern remains: 18-wheelers pose a threat to their drivers as well as other drivers and passengers on the road.

In it, he shared some of his research on what over 50 former high-flying companies – like Enron, Tyco, WorldCom, Rubbermaid, and Schwinn – did to become complete failures. It turns out that the senior executives at the companies all had 7 Habits in common. Finkelstein calls them the Seven Habits of Spectacularly Unsuccessful Executives. These traits can be found in the leaders of current failures like Research In Motion (RIMM), but they should be early-warning signs (cautionary tales) to cu

A year ago, a Monsanto executive and blueberry farmer took the reins at CHS Inc., the nation's largest cooperative. As a farm cooperative, CHS leaders have always had rural roots. But until now, they've always come from inside the fold. "I was the first outsider hired (as CEO) in the history of the company," said Carl Casale, 50, during a recent interview at CHS headquarters in Inver Grove Heights. "When I was interviewing, that wasn't lost on me and it wasn't lost on the board, either."

Gasoline could cost 4.5 cents a gallon more starting as early as this week, and it's not because of rising oil prices. It's because Congress declined to renew the 30-year-old federal subsidy for ethanol, letting it expire Sunday. Ethanol, denatured grain alcohol used as a proven smog-cutting ingredient, currently makes up 10% of most gasoline-based motor fuel for general use, so-called E-10. In a few areas, E-85 fuel, 85% ethanol, also is available. E-85 can be burned only by vehicles equi

We maintain our Neutral recommendation on The Andersons Inc. (ANDE), which is a diversified company operating in five different business segments ranging from buying, selling and storing grain to leasing railcars and running retail stores catering to the latest home hardware needs. The Andersons Inc. reported third-quarter EPS of 59 cents, a substantial improvement over 8 cents reported in the year-ago quarter and way ahead of the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 17 cents. The outperformance was

VICTORIA'S neglected freight rail network is crippling the state's ability to reap the full benefit of bumper grain harvests, with millions of tonnes of export grain languishing in remote silos. A report by the state Transport Department has found that a lack of investment during more than 10 years of drought has left the state's freight rail infrastructure ailing and overstretched. Heavy trucks have been filling the breach, damaging country roads and exacerbating urban congestion. A

How do you intend to improve your organization in 2012? It is been my experience that a lack of communication between departments is something that can be it improved upon at every company. It seems that I have been on every side of the equation. I have worked in sales, credit, collections, accounting and operations. As I can tell you that each division faces their own unique challenges. Sales and credit. We usually bicker like a bunch of siblings while collections is usually complaining ab

Not long ago at church, a grown-up asked Adam Mershon, 11, if he planned on being a farmer like his dad, granddad and great-granddad."I already am a farmer," he replied.For about as long as Adam can remember, he has been feeding cattle with his cousins on Grandpa Tom's farm near Buckner.He's been fixing fences. Delivering calves, up to his elbows. Years back, he'd climb on his father's lap to steer the tractor.The Mershons call it a lifestyle they'd never trade.The federal government calls it ch

A Scranton-based logistics provider recently spent more than $6 million to acquire 50 new truck tractors. Kane Is Able Inc., which provides warehousing and transportation services and has about 1,000 employees nationally, will replace about 75 percent of its local fleet with the new vehicles, marketing director Alex Stark said. The lightweight, automatic-transmission tractors will average about 7 miles per gallon, a fuel efficiency increase of at least 40 percent over the vehicles being

1/2/2012 4:35 PM By Michelle Keahey, East Texas Bureau MARSHALL - A trucking company is being sued after one of its employees improperly changed lanes and struck another vehicle. Ramona Brown and Donna R. Brown filed suit against Celadon Trucking Services Inc. and Kurt Russell Sondaker on Dec. 15 in the Eastern District of Texas, Marshall Division. The accident occurred on April 5, 2011, on Interstate 20 in Harrison County. The Browns were traveling in a 1996 Toyota Camry when defendan

I have written before about truck driver and pilot fatigue. Tractor trailer driver and pilot fatigue has gone largely unnoticed in the media, but new rules for pilots and truckers have shed some new light on this danger. Fatigue is a factor in far too many truck and plane crashes and is one of the greatest threats to transportation safety. Every year trucking or pilot fatigue contributes to thousands of crashes and deaths in the trucking and aviation industries. According to a 2005 study,

EDEN • Long-haul driver Neil Wolbeck has no problem with the federal government's new ban on cellphone usage for truckers behind the wheel. The 38-year-old from central Minnesota, who makes a weekly haul of chickens or potatoes between Idaho and the Gopher State, has used a Bluetooth headset, which allows him to wirelessly connect to his phone. That way, he can keep both hands on the wheel or the gear shift. "I'm not worried about it,"he said of the new law, which will allow local and st

Adam King spent months hunting for a job before landing at Witte Truck Driving School in Troy, Mo., this fall. After King, 23, of O'Fallon, Mo., passed the state commercial drivers license test, he spent the next five or six weeks driving a tractor-trailer under the watchful eye of a trainer before venturing out on his own. "I was unemployed after I got out of the Army for two years," said King, who drove trucks while in the military. "I put in hundreds of applications." For the past th

U.S. farmers are more optimistic about their current and future economic situation than they were in September after profitable harvests, according to a survey- based index produced by DTN/The Progressive Farmer. Farmers rated their confidence in the agricultural economy with an index score of 109.8, compared with 107.7 in September, the agricultural news service said today in a report. The benchmark of 100 is based on sentiment in April 2010, when the survey was inaugurated. Higher confiden

While there is always more traffic on area roads this time of year, it's not all due to winter visitors. Maj. Leon Wilmot of the Yuma County Sheriff's Office said that a lot of those extra vehicles are farm trucks and other agriculture-related vehicles needed for the busy winter vegetable harvest. "It is a seasonal thing. We do it every year. If you live here, you understand that Yuma County is agricultural." Wilmot explained the growth in traffic is typically from tractors and other fa

The St. Lucie County Board of County Commissioners recently entered into a contract with a local engineering firm to provide fill material at the County landfill, putting 30 dump truck drivers to work, while saving more than $1 million. County Commissioners approved a contract with Underwater Engineering Services of Fort Pierce to provide between 120,000 - 270,000 cubic yards of fill materials at the landfill at a cost of $1 per cubic yard. The lowest recent bid for the same materials was $5.

A turnaround in Paccar's stock could require patience, like waiting for one of its 18-wheel PeterBilt trucks to negotiate a tight corner. Once headed in the right direction, however, its massive engines will make it tough to stop. Right now, though, it's trying to cope with Europe's economic slowdown, which has sent the truck maker's shares (ticker: PCAR) down about 35% this year, to $37.46. Paccar gets about a third of its revenue from European sales, so a likely recession on the Continent-

LaBolt, S.D. -- A Labolt grain company is facing $95,000 in fines after federal investigators found more than a dozen safety violations. The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration announced the proposed penalties against LaBolt Farmers Grain Company Inc. on Friday. Three of the 13 citations were considered serious, including failing to effectively train workers entering confined spaces and grain bins. A serious violation is when there is substantial probab

A North Troy trucking company owned by state Sen. Bobby Starr, D-Essex/Orleans, and his son Eric has been shut down for failing to carry workers' compensation insurance, and it's unclear whether the company ever will start up again. Its owners might simply shift employees and assets to another company owned by Eric Starr. Superior Court Judge Robert Bent granted a permanent injunction against Starrs United Inc. on Dec. 20, preventing the company from operating until it acquires workers' com

Three people were killed and about a dozen more injured when a van carrying Cargill employees wrecked Friday afternoon. According to Cargill plant manager Jim Rathke, the crash occurred on I-27 just south of Canyon about 2 p.m. No names had been released as of Friday evening. Rathke said all of the Somali-born victims live in the Amarillo area. "Nobody knows for sure what happened," said Rathke, who was arriving at a hospital emergency room in Amarillo when he spoke to the Herald. Rathk

A former truck safety supervisor for the U.S. Transportation Department was sentenced Thursday to 18 months in prison after pleading guilty to felony bribe-taking. James H. Wood, 45, of Delevan, was sentenced by Chief U.S. District Judge William M. Skretny in Buffalo. Skretny also ruled that Wood must forfeit $41,300 to the federal government. In January, the U.S. Attorney's Office charged Wood with taking tens of thousands of dollars in bribes in exchange for initiating "complaint audit

WASHINGTON -- The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration appears to be counting on the new 34-restart restriction and the required 30-minute break to offset any risk involved in maintaining the 11-hour daily driving limit. In releasing the new rule, the agency said after carefully examining numerous studies on the relationship between work hours and health and safety both in trucking and other industries, and after reviewing the comments submitted to the by trucking industry stakeho

The owner of a southwestern Illinois trucking company is accused of falsifying records to profit by lying about how much he was paying his employees. Thirty-eight-year-old William "Pat" Clark of Worden faces a federal indictment accusing him of making a false statement. Authorities say that as owner and president of Clark Trucking and Excavation in East St. Louis, Clark schemed to falsify records claiming to pay more money to his employees than he actually was. Prosecutors say that allowed

What a crazy year it's been for investors. The S&P 500 jumped up over 8% by May, only to turn around and find itself down over 10% in August, mainly as a result of the European debt crisis and Washington's inability to agree on a solution to our debt dilemma. Now, at the end of December, the S&P has fought back and is poised to end the year essentially flat. But while the markets as a whole didn't change much over the past 52 weeks, the shipping industry wasn't nearly as lucky. Take a lo

Many in the US ethanol industry believe they have built such secure foundations that its removal on 31 December will not have serious repercussions. Ethanol manufacturers are focusing on promoting higher blends of ethanol into petrol and installing blender pumps to dispense higher blends and larger production of flex-fuel vehicles. Bob Dinneen of the trade group the Renewable Fuels Association said that he expects a continued growth in the industry. However, with now around half the cor

The federal government last week issued new regulations that govern how much rest a long-haul trucker must have and also designates times that a driver can and cannot get back behind the wheel. The rules, which do not go into effect for another 18 months, scale back the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's plan to limit truck driver shifts to 10 hours a day. Last week the Obama administration, under some pressure from trucking industry groups and against the protests from safety advo

LIVINGSTON -- A dump truck struck an overhead sign on Interstate 280 westbound, snarling traffic for two miles, according to an official from the New Jersey Department of Transportation. "We had an accident involving a (dump truck) which struck an overhead sign gantry," said DOT spokesman Tim Greeley referring to the green signs that indicate exits. All lanes on 280 westbound are currently closed at Exit 6, the exit for Laurel Avenue in Livingston. Traffic is backed up about two miles to

Acquisition increases regional efficiency and reliability Members of the United Farmers Cooperative signed a letter of intent to purchase the Marquette, NE based Midwest Ag Partners LLC. Headquartered in York, Nebraska, United Farmers Cooperative will increase regional efficiency and reliability with the addition of the following services in Marquette, NE; Agronomy, Grain, Energy and Feed. The acquisition will allow United Farmers Cooperative to better serve their producers in Hamilton and Merri

The Federal Government dropped a lump of coal into the trucking industry's Christmas stocking with the release of the new final Hours of Service (HOS) rules on the afternoon of Thursday, December 22, 2011. Did you miss it? How could you when the transportation and supply-chain trade press shouted out the news, the first e-mail at 2:32 PM EST, shortly after the press release hit the wires. Is it as bad as everyone is expecting? Well, it could be. It all depends on what kind of driver you are,

WASHINGTON -- The argument by the American Trucking Associations and others opposed to changing the current Hours of Service rules that the recent recession could not explain the decline in fatality rates because truck VMT actually increased during that period is an "artifact" of a change in the definition of truck used by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) in estimating vehicle miles traveled (VMT), the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration said in the just released final rule on H

Trucking company owners came on stage today to warn that's "technically impossible" to discuss and approve a 2,500 pesos Christmas bonus by this time of the year as the Teamsters Union led by Pablo Moyano is currently demanding. Director of the Federation of Trucking Company Owners' Labour Affairs Department, Lucio Zemborain, indicated that it is "impossible to gather all trucking companies' owners at this time of the year", and added, "We should resume this kind of debates for late January

The Obama administration decided against a cut in truckers' daily hours behind the wheel, to the dismay of safety advocates, but made other changes aimed at fighting driver fatigue. The rule issued last Thursday continues to permit drivers to be on the road for up to 11 hours daily, something favored by the trucking industry, but would reduce by 12 hours the maximum number of hours a driver can work within a week to 70 hours. A 34-hour gap between the end of one week and the start of ano

Last week at a truck stop in Indiana, a driver was taking a break and came out to find his truck, filled with $2 million worth of RIM Playbooks, had been stolen from the lot. Two weeks ago, while a driver was having his morning coffee at a truck stop in Niagara, Ont., a skilled thief disabled the wheel-lock device on his highway tractor-trailer, started the rig and drove off with the load. Findings of the Canadian Trucking Alliance's report on cargo crime in Canada -- Organized crime -

THE US Transportation Energy Annual Reports have consistently listed heavy trucks as consuming around 2500 kilojoules per tonne-kilometre, while modern rail uses 250 KJ/tonne-km. These bald figures say that if road and rail are competing door to door on a similar route, road transport will use 10 times the energy of rail. Therefore, why is road transport dominating rail? Some reasons come under three broad categories: (1) Misrepresentation of road transport, (2) Misuse of rail transport

The Dec. 18 article "Should we allow heavier trucks on Pa. roads?" missed significant safety provisions in the Safe and Efficient Transportation Act -- provisions that make the bill a safe option for Pennsylvania and the rest of the country. Known as "SETA," this federal legislation would give states the option to boost interstate productivity by allowing heavier, yet properly equipped, trucks on interstate highways. To ensure safety, SETA requires that these more productive vehicles be equip

Trucking and shippers groups reacted swiftly and negatively to the Department of Transportation's final hours-of-service rule, citing the potential for more congestion and saying it will not improve highway safety. On the other side of the issue, a citizens' safety group also said the rule was flawed, though for different reasons. Click here for TT's Special Report on the HOS rule. (TT subscription or 14-day pass required.) The final rule "puts safety in the back seat," American Truckin

The final frontier for alternative motor fuels, powering big tractor-trailers, has been crossed. The alternative is natural gas, but not in the now-familiar form of compressed gas. Instead, a growing number of the biggest trucks are running on liquefied natural gas. Burdened by diesel prices that topped out at over $5 a gallon in 2008 and mindful of the sustained collapse of natural gas prices, trucking companies are expressing new interest in liquefied natural gas for their thirstiest trucks

By Jeff Plungis (Updates with industry comments starting in 13th paragraph.) Dec. 22 (Bloomberg) -- President Barack Obama's administration maintained an 11-hour limit on truck drivers' hours today, scaling back a proposal to give them more rest. The U.S. Transportation Department's proposed rule to reduce the daily driving limit to 10 hours was one of seven regulations the Obama administration said would cost companies at least $1 billion. Trucking companies opposed it, saying the s

I was happy to see last Monday's Opinion article detailing the problems that current agricultural practices pose for the environment ("Feeding the future"). While I understand that the excerpt shown was not the full article, I was still disappointed to see the myopic scope of the solutions offered. I can't see where heavier genetic engineering can be offered as one of the best solutions, while the reduction of the consumption of meat was neglected. According to Bulletin 973 from the U.S. Dep

GALESBURG -- Mayor Sal Garza on Friday called the decision by Archer Daniels Midland Co. to reopen its shuttered soybean processing facility next year as a grain elevator "a new chapter" in the company's relationship here. ADM announced Thursday it will open the new facility by July, employing five people. The Decatur-based firm notified its 31 employees on Aug. 22 that the facility was closing. City officials almost at once announced plans to attempt to meet with ADM officials, w

YORK, Neb. -- For the 10th year in a row, truckers stopping in York and other local truck stops will have a little extra Christmas cheer, in the form of handmade goody bags. The bags are assembled by volunteers at First Christ Church in York and contain everything from homemade cookies, chips and gum to hard candy, juice and crackers. There's also a candy cane, a card with the name and contact information of the pastor of First Christ Church and a truckers prayer. Volunteer Connie Hubba

Michael J. Moore, United States Attorney for the Middle District of Georgia, announced that Devasko Dewayne Lewis , age 33, of Cordele, Georgia, was taken into federal custody and appeared before United States Magistrate Judge Stephen Hyles in Columbus, Georgia for initial appearance and bond proceedings on December 21, 2011. Lewis and his trucking company, DDL Transport, LLC, were indicted by a federal grand jury in November 2011, on one count of making a False Statement and seven counts of Con

All of us here, with deep gratitude, thank you for your continued partnership and wish you and yours a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. -BulkLoadsNow Team

A tractor-trailer caught fire outside a Concord gas station yesterday, sending up 30-foot flames and threatening to ignite nearby gas tanks before firefighters extinguished the blaze. No one was injured. The driver, Jeffrey Hunt, said his refrigerated delivery truck was having electrical problems when he pulled into the Sunoco station at 15 Manchester St. about 1:15 p.m. He used jumper cables to connect the refrigerator battery up to the main battery and then went inside to get a cup of coffe

The trucking industry accelerated in November, with freight tonnage rising by 0.3% -- that's a full 6% higher than November 2010 and the largest year-over-year gain since June, the American Trucking Associations said on Wednesday. "Tonnage levels continue to point to an economy that is growing, not sliding into a recession," ATA Chief Economist Bob Costello said. "Over the last three months, tonnage is up 2.3% and stands at the highest level since January of this year." Two key facto

Truck drivers' daily limit kept at 11 hours President Obama's administration Thursday maintained an 11-hour-a-day maximum on truck drivers' hours, scaling back a proposal to give them more rest. The U.S. Transportation Department's proposed rule to reduce the daily driving limit to 10 hours was one of seven regulations the Obama administration said would cost companies at least $1 billion. Trucking companies opposed it, saying the shorter hours would force them to rework routes and hire more d

Tom Kretsinger, Jr. posted on 2011/12/20 24:00 Dec. 23. Joseph pulled into the truck stop. It was dark and he could hear the engines and generators humming as most of the truckers had bedded down for the night. He had just delivered his load and had one more to pickup before he could go home to his family. He would spend his required 10-hour break here, and pick up the load and stop home for Christmas en route. His wife, Sharon and the children were 500 miles away. He figured he could make it

Dec. 22 (Bloomberg) -- Farmers will reap a record corn crop for a sixth consecutive season in 2012, slowing a slump in stockpiles of livestock feed as global meat demand approaches a quarter of a billion metric tons. Production will rise 4.8 percent to 867.5 million metric tons in 2011-12, curbing the drop in inventories to 0.8 percent, the smallest decline in three years, the U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates. With harvests expanding from Argentina to China, prices will fall as much a

(Reuters) - The index that tracks tonnage hauled by American trucks rose sharply in November, compared with year-ago levels, as U.S. factory production of goods increased, the American Trucking Association (ATA) said on Wednesday. The seasonally-adjusted tonnage index rose 6 percent on a year-to-year basis, logging the largest yearly gain since June 2011. "Tonnage levels continue to point to an economy that is growing, not sliding into a recession," ATA Chief Economist Bob Costello said in