Bulk Freight News & Industry Updates - Stay Ahead in Trucking

China's struggle to meet the growing demands of its middle class is fueling a sudden surge in demand for corn, sending vast ripples across the U.S. farm belt and potentially upending the grain's trade flows around the world. China's need for corn--which forms the basis of sweeteners, starch and alcohol as well as feed for livestock--was on stark display in July when the nation ordered 21 million bushels of U.S. corn in one hit, more than the U.S. government thought the country would buy in a

Bluestem has been following the Goodhue County controversy over a potential silica sand mine near Red Wing; the sand would be used for "fracking" shale to extract natural gas. Now the issue has trickled to another county. One in the heart of Drazistan. The Winona Daily News reports in Wabasha County puts moratorium on frac sand mines: Wabasha County put a moratorium this week on all new mining operations, a move primarily related to recent interest in mining silica sand - also know

EPA'10 versions of the Mack Pinnacle model are said to deliver a 10 percent or more improvement in fuel efficiency over EPA'07, demonstrating expertise the company plans to capitalize upon under SuperTruck. Mack Trucks, Inc. and Volvo Group's North American truck-related operations will participate in the development of technologies to improve the freight-moving efficiency of heavy-duty trucks and reduce greenhouse gas emissions as part of a SuperTruck contract with the U.S. Department of Ener

Cut Bank farmer Roger Sammons planted his wheat crop in mid-May and then drove south for more than two months. He was not leading the leisurely, laid-back lifestyle of a gentleman farmer. Far from it. Rather, Sammons was heading out for his eighth season leading a team of custom cutters who harvest wheat and other crops for farmers as far away as north-central Texas. They work their way back to Montana, serving some repeat customers with standing agreements while landing extra work w

President Obama last week set commercial truck fuel-economy standards for the first time, unveiling regulations that mandate up to a 20% cut in fuel use and address the complicated broad universe of vehicle sizes and applications. (L&MT Report, Aug. 9.) Reaction to the regulations was almost unanimously positive from trucking, truck and engine manufacturers, environmental groups and others. "Today's announcement by President Obama is welcome news to us in the trucking industry," American

FERGUS, Ont. -- At 49 years of age, Robert St. Vincent is by no means old. But old school? He'll wear that badge with pride. The 18th annual Truck News Owner/Operator of the Year got started in the trucking industry early. His father owned a small transfer company in the 1950s, instilling in St. Vincent a passion for trucking. "Every chance I had, I'd go with him for a ride and I just loved being in that truck," St. Vincent recalled. His aspirations, however, involved bigger trucks and far-o

A tractor-trailer driver died early Friday morning when police say he was run over by his own big rig. Police believe Reginald Bailey, 70, of Lebanon, N.H., pulled over on the side of Interstate 89 in Berlin to go to the bathroom. While standing in front of the cab, the truck rolled over Bailey, dragging him for several feet. The truck continued to roll across the northbound lanes and the median before coming to rest in the southbound lane. Bailey was pronounced dead at the hospital.

We all spend a lot of time trying to find business, but how much time do you spend making sure businesses can find you? Creating a demand for your services, and making yourself known, is just as important (if not more, some would argue) as going after business opportunities. Directory and profile listings, like on LinkedIn, are important for networking and posting your services for hire on places like BulkLoadsNow can be the start of creating a demand for yourself. Here are a few tips for mar

GRAND ISLAND, Neb.-- Eight drivers are representing the Nebraska trucking industry at the national competition in Orlando, Fla., this week. The drivers all won the chance to represent Nebraska by winning one of the categories at the Nebraska Truck Driving Championships in June. The competition is designed to promote safety while drivers showcase their skills in tests such as an alley dock, side park and right turn. Drivers also have to navigate an obstacle course that designed to represent c

Archer Daniels Midland Co. (ADM) has agreed to buy a majority stake in Polish biodiesel maker Elstar Oils SA, (ELS.WA). The Decatur, Ill., company did not disclose purchase terms for Elstar, of northern Poland, which also manufactures refined vegetable oils and fats for food companies. "Poland is an important origination and consumer market for ADM. Elstar's location in the heart of a rapeseed-growing region, with easy access to the ports of Gdansk and Gdynia, complements our existing pr

Gary Jones lost his job in December after working in construction for nearly 30 years. At 55 and retirement still years away, he needed a new career and a steady paycheck. He got his wish. Jones recently juggled six job offers and expects to earn $40,000 over the next year by joining the ranks of the 3.5 million truckers who shuttle freight on American roads. The transportation industry needs a lot more people like Jones to fill a nationwide shortage of truckers that may hit 300,000 next year

Cargill chief Greg Page, who runs the largest U.S. agricultural company, has a good idea whom to blame for the global surge in food prices at the end of 2010: governments. Page urged 708 delegates and guests at the National Grain and Feed Association convention in San Diego in March to take action. He said government hoarding was the biggest contributor to the rise in prices, which had soared 15 percent from October through January and pushed 44 million people into poverty, according to the W

Wheat is not something I think about a lot. Sure, I prefer unbleached flour, and I vacillate between buying white and whole wheat, but, as with most things in food, when I began digging a little I realized wheat has a complicated life story. One guy who has a lot of wheat history to share is Karl Kupers. Like many farmers I've met, he's homey but also sophisticated, a combination that seems necessary in an ever-consolidating world of farming. Rather than buy up neighbors' acreage to beco

Far more uncertainty is now projected for truck freight volumes going forward, according to the latest analysis conducted by research firm FTR Associates, largely because the U.S. economy is performing far more poorly than previously thought. Share Article Tools Bookmark Email Reprint Save Print Comment Advertisement Advertisement During its quarterly "State of Freight" webcast, FTR President Eric Starks said the firm's previous projection

Good news for farmers came from Washington this week as the U.S. Department of Transportation issued "common sense" guidelines for agricultural trucking, according to Kankakee County Farm Bureau Manager Chad Miller. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) Wednesday released the guidelines, "designed to make sure states clearly understand the common sense exemptions that allow farmers, their employees and their families to accomplish their day-to-day work and transport their pr

LINCOLN – A Taiwanese company has agreed to buy $55 million worth of corn-based plastics made in Blair. Lt. Gov. Rick Sheehy, on an Asian trade mission, announced Friday that Wei Mon Industry Co. has signed a letter of intent to make the purchases by the end of 2013. The bio-plastic is manufactured at the Cargill plant in Blair. The Taiwanese government has set goals for the reduction of conventional plastics, creating new markets for the corn-based material, Sheehy said in a news release.

ARLINGTON, Va. -- Most truckers didn't do too well on a 14-question survey designed to determine driver understanding of CSA. In fact, it appears a majority of them flat out flunked the test. The questionnaire was part of a broader CSA survey among drivers conducted by the American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI), the research arm of the American Trucking Associations. ATRI said the 14 questions covered the principal elements of CSA. In releasing the resu

McPherson County -- The long, hot, dry summer has taken its toll on the state's fall crops and Thursday the Kansas Agricultural Statistics Service officially revised its production prospective to reflect a growing number of failed acres. Corn for grain production is forecasted at 495 million bushels this fall, down 15 percent from last year, despite a year-over-year increase in the number of acres planted to corn in 2011. The number of corn acres industry experts expect to be harvested

DECATUR, Ill.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Archer Daniels Midland Company (NYSE: ADM) today announced the appointment of Craig Huss to chief risk officer; Joe Taets to senior vice president and president, Agricultural Services; and Domingo Lastra to vice president, Business Growth. All three individuals will report to ADM Chief Operating Officer Juan R. Luciano, and their appointments are effective immediately. "ADM has an unrivaled business model and an exceptionally talented team with a strong commi

Bunge Ltd. (BG), Argentina's second- biggest corn exporter, owes about $100 million in taxes for fiscal 2006 and 2007, according to a claim by the country's tax agency, the company said. Last month, Bunge received a preliminary income tax audit report and claim from Argentina's tax authorities for fiscal years 2006 and 2007, the White Plains, New York-based grain trader said in a securities filing Aug. 9. Argentine tax authorities have inspected several Bunge locations in the country ove

Ten largest liquid, dry bulk tank truckers increased sales to $3.1 billion The nation's top bulk trucking companies increased revenue 12.3 percent in 2010, with combined sales reaching $3.1 billion, according to SJ Consulting Group. Ranked by revenue, Kenan Advantage Group was the largest of the tank-truck companies, with $772 million in sales last year, a 14.9 percent increase from 2009. Based in North Canton, Ohio, Kenan is the 21st largest trucking company in the U.S., SJ Consulti

Federal forecasts show U.S. farmers will harvest dramatically less grain and soybeans than expected this year, failing to ease high prices and rebuild low global supplies. The U.S. Department of Agriculture in its monthly crop report Thursday slashed its outlook for the autumn harvests after damaging heat and dryness took its toll on corn and soybean fields in July, while excessive rains hampered spring wheat plantings. The agency now forecast farmers to produce 12.914 billion bushels of

Commercial Motor, the UK's largest weekly road transport magazine, teamed up with Railways Illustrated to stage a "head to head" challenge pitting a truck against a freight train. The purpose: to prove in real-life operating conditions, which mode of transport could deliver the goods to their destination in the quickest time. Mercedes-BenzUKlaid on a flagship Euro 5 Actros 1860 MegaSpace 4x2 tractor unit, which was up against the latest GM Class 66 Train. Simultaneously departing from DIRFT (

These days, U.S. farm policy is blamed for a lot of things -- even the nation's obesity epidemic. The idea is that the roughly $15 billion in annual subsidies that the federal government gives to farmers encourages them to grow too much grain. As a result, the theory goes, prices drop, food gets cheaper and we end up eating too much. It seems like a simple equation. But the truth is rarely simple. Americans Eat Cheap The net effect of the whole set of farm supports is to make food more

Seaboard Corp. recorded large gains in sales and profits during the second quarter, helped by a $51.4 million gain on the sale of two power-generating facilities in the Dominican Republic. Here is a summary of Seaboard's financial results for the three months that ended July 2, compared with the same quarter the prior year: Net sales: $1.4 billion, up 33.4 percent Net earnings attributable to Seaboard: $113.49 million, up 46.2 percent Earnings per share: $93.34, compared with $63

LaBELLE, Mo. -- Archer Daniels Midland will dramatically expand its grain elevator in LaBelle, with parts of the expansion ready in time for this year's harvest, the company announced Tuesday. The elevator's storage capacity will triple as ADM builds a 720,000-bushel grain storage bin at the facility in western Lewis County, which buys corn, soybeans and wheat from local growers. The company also intends to add a new receiving pit, a load out and a 140,000-bushel wet storage bin, as well as

By Tom Webb twebb@pioneerpress.com Updated: 08/09/2011 10:03:44 PM CDT Everything's big at Cargill. Including its profits. The agribusiness giant earned a record $4.2 billion in fiscal 2011, a whopping 63 percent jump from the previous year, when profits from its fertilizer company spinoff Mosaic are included. And Cargill on Tuesday cemented its place as Minnesota's largest corporation, as measured by sales, with $120 billion in annual revenue. That's four times the revenue of 3

Aug. 8 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. President Barack Obama's plan to improve fuel economy for heavy-duty trucks will probably aim to cut carbon-dioxide emissions by about 20 percent by 2018, said Glen Kedzie, vice president at the American Trucking Associations. The standard will probably set a 6 percent engine- efficiency improvement target, said Kedzie, who is also environmental counsel at the Arlington, Virginia-based industry group and has been briefed by the Environmental Protection Agency and t

What to do with $100? I'm sure most of us can come with a never-ending list of things to spend the money on – new clothes, video games, maybe even bills. But for 55 Truckload Carriers Assn. (TCA) members, the challenge is simple: pay it forward. The idea, presented at the recent TCA Refrigerated Division annual meeting in Albuquerque, is not something new. In fact, a book and movie, starring Helen Hunt, Kevin Spacey, and Haley Joel Osment, were created based on the concept. But in trucking

ARLINGTON, Va., Aug. 9, 2011 -- /PRNewswire/ -- Over 400 top professional truck drivers from all across the U.S. will be heading for Orlando, Fla. for the 2011 National Truck Driving Championships (NTDC) and National Step Van Driving Championships (NSVDC), to be held August 9-13, 2011 in the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Fla. The "Super Bowl of Safety" is sponsored annually by the American Trucking Associations. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20100129/ATALOGO ) T

Tyson Foods Inc. said Monday that its profit fell 21 percent for its third fiscal quarter on higher grain costs and lagging results from its chicken business. An oversupply in the poultry industry has kept prices depressed. Poultry demand has remained stubbornly low as cash-strapped families cut back on restaurant dining and prepared meals that once underpinned chicken sales. At the same time, the cost of feeding a chicken has soared more than 10 cents a pound since 2009 because of sharp

BRIDGEVILLE -- Perdue Farms showed off a sprawling new, fully operational solar array on Monday, with seven football fields' worth of panels powering a feed mill and grain facility next door. Officials with the poultry company and Washington Gas Energy Services, which owns the panels, said that at 6,720 panels, it's currently Delaware's largest solar farm. It won't enjoy that distinction for long, as the Dover SunPark, a significantly larger solar facility, is expected to be dedicated late

CHATHAM, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - Aug. 8, 2011) - AGRIS Co-operative Ltd. board president Larry Pajot is pleased to announce today that an agreement has been reached to donate property owned by AGRIS located in Comber, Ontario to the Comber Agricultural Society. The property located on 77 highway in Comber has become available as grain storage facilities became consolidated to other larger collection points better suited geographically for farmers. Robert Hornick, president of the Comber Agricu

In a reversal of historic patterns, the price of corn is higher than wheat, an anomaly that is upending commodities-trading strategies and changing what poultry producers feed their chickens. Tyson Foods Inc. and Pilgrim's Pride Corp., which together process 3.7 billion chickens a year, have begun sprinkling wheat into chicken feed, traditionally a corn-based concoction. Livestock and ethanol producers also are turning to wheat as a supplement to corn. The changes are a response to a surge

The telephone rang at 6:30 a.m. It was my wife. Her first sentence: "We had 24-hundredths of an inch of rain last night." I relished every word as if they were drops slowly soaking into parched earth. For the previous two days I had been moving our cattle to another paddock where there might just be enough grass to graze for one more week. The temperature had been 106 degrees yesterday, and 106 the day before. The water jug was never far out of sight, and breaks in the shade came often.

BRIGHTON, Colo., Aug. 8, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Mark Lannerd, of Denver, was named the best professional truck driver in Colorado after winning the three-axle competition at the 2011 Colorado Truck Driving Championships. The annual event is sponsored by Colorado Motor Carriers Association. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20100129/ATALOGO ) Lannerd, who drives for Conway Freight, now qualifies to compete in the American Trucking Associations' National Truck Driving Champi

LUBBOCK - Every year Texas grain producers must also entrust their livelihoods with the grain buyers and warehouses they do business with. When grain producers deliver the bounty of their crops to grain elevators, they expect those companies to fulfill their contractual obligation to remit timely payments or adequately maintain the grain in storage. In light of a number of grain facility closures and financial failures across the state in recent years that resulted in millions of dollars in l

Tim Strobel has been driving a tractor for 20 years, so he's a bit puzzled that federal officials are kicking around an idea that could ultimately force him - and anyone else operating farm machinery - to get a commercial driver's license. Yes, the same kind of license that interstate truckers must have to operate their rigs. "I am not against some training, but this is going a little bit overboard," said Strobel, a dairy farmer from Watertown. The U.S. Department of Transportation has

With oil prices so steep, many investors interested in transportation are turning from the trucking industry to railroads, which are more energy-efficient. Surprisingly, the biggest factor driving railroad growth right now is the resurgence of the auto industry. According to Progressive Railroading, as of April 30, auto carloads were up 9.6 percent over the same time last year. Revenue from shipping cars varies, but it usually makes up about 7 percent of the bottom line for major railroa

Remember NAFTA? The ambitious but controversial North American Free Trade Agreement between the United States, Canada and Mexico from the 1990s is back, this time as the backdrop to a contentious new cross-border deal allowing Mexican freight trucks onto U.S. highways. The agreement, announced last month by the Department of Transportation, is being assailed by critics as a possibly illegal undertaking that will take jobs from U.S. truckers and money from U.S. taxpayers. It is opposed by t

GAINESVILLE - A Gainesville family, long associated with the trucking/transportation industry, is back on the road again... having recently launched Syfan Logistics. Steve and Greg Syfan and their father, Jim Syfan, had been out of the trucking business since 2006 after selling Turbo Logistics, a company that was founded in 1984. Since the sale, they have stayed in tune with the transportation industry by operating Turbo Truck Center, a truck repair and service business, which was not part o

Senator Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) sent a letter this week to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration expressing concerns over critical transportation proposals related to transporting agriculture commodities. "The FMCSA proposed rule changes would provide no proven benefit, and would only serve to excessively and unnecessarily overburden our agriculture producers who are already overstrained by government regulations," said Roberts. "Farming can be dangerous, and we want to make sure thes

Kelly Spitzer embraced Virontka Rigsby in a Denver courtroom Friday morning as they cried -- one for the loss of a son and the other for being the cause. Cody Rigsby, 17, died in 2009 when he suffocated in a grain elevator operated by Spitzer's company, Tempel Grain LLC, on the Eastern Plains. Spitzer, the company's vice president, wiped tears from her eyes as she pleaded guilty on behalf of Tempel Grain to criminal charges of violating federal Occupational Safety and Health Administratio

The U.S. unemployment rate declined a tenth of a point in July to 9.1%, while the economy added 117,000 jobs to payrolls, the Labor Department said Friday. Trucking added 1,300 workers, while the total transportation and warehousing sector grew by 1,100 jobs, Labor figures showed. "I was very pleasantly surprised by the top-line figure of 117,000, said Bob Costello, chief economist for American Trucking Associations. "Based on other economic data, I thought the number would be closer

Elevator bin-building boom slows Dow Jones Newswires08/05/2011 @ 3:29pm U.S. grain elevators are taking a break from a recent building boom to remove bottlenecks from their delivery systems, needing to handle growing volumes of corn and soybeans more rapidly. Grain storage space hit an all-time high last year, driven by large crops coming out of the fields and increased demand for elevator space. Yet inventories of corn are at historic lows, leaving ample space going into the fa

Culminating years of U.S. Grains Council efforts, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has added distillers dried grains with solubles (DDGS) and corn gluten feed to its import feed ingredient subsidy list, creating a strong incentive for sales. It also increased the subsidy for sorghum, a step expected to lead to more sorghum inclusion. The new list establishes a subsidy for 31 specified imported feed ingredients, which is to be passed down the supply chain to keep feed input costs low for producers

Cargill Inc. and CHS Inc. (CHSCP) are in talks to expand an existing joint venture in the Pacific Northwest, which is becoming increasingly important as a gateway for grain exports to Asia. Cargill, one of the world's largest grain merchandisers, and CHS, the largest U.S. farmer cooperative, said the talks are driven by demand for wheat, feed grains and oilseeds into Asia. They currently operate TEMCO, LLC, which consists of an export terminal in Tacoma, Wash. The announcement comes a mont

While most truck drivers are safe, hardworking professionals, many people who drive next to large commercial trucks on America's interstates would be surprised to learn that some bad truck drivers lie on their logs. Logs may be manipulated or even falsified for any number of reasons, including pressure by trucking companies to keep drivers and freight moving. For the vast majority of truck drivers, it is the trucker -- not the trucking company -- who bears the risk of traffic delays, road co

GRAIN VALLEY, Mo. -- The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association says the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration overlooked one important group of stakeholders in the draft of the agency's strategic plan, claiming that the FMCSA treats truck drivers like piñatas rather than partners. OOIDA likened the agency to someone who beats a piñata with a stick. "After years of observation and interaction, OOIDA is left with the impression that FMCSA treats drivers much as a chi

Ethanol prices have skyrocketed in recent quarters as high fuel prices stoked demand for the corn-based additive from oil refiners. While concerns about a slowing global economy have slowed ethanol prices of late, producers remain optimistic going forward. The Bedford Report examines the outlook for companies in the Ethanol Industry and provides investment research on Pacific Ethanol Corporation and Archer Daniels Midland Company /quotes/zigman/218265/quotes/nls/adm ADM -0.25% . Access to the fu

When Robb Mariani was a little boy, he loved trucks and highways and travel. He says it's always been in his blood. "My grandfathers were both truckers," Mariani said Wednesday. The idea for the show "American Trucker" came to him a long time before it became reality. "I had been fighting for this show for six or seven years, because I really believed there was an audience for it," he said. Mariani and "Hot Rod" director Steve Beebe got together, and things started to gel. M

MOLT -- Within days, the hot August sun will bake the final strains of chlorophyll from the golden wheat on the Kelsey farm. Dave Kelsey will climb into his combine cab. Karen Kelsey will fire up the farm's small grain truck, and the couple will engage in a frenzied production dance that folks in these parts would recognize as the mom and pop. Dave will send the combine chewing through the hard red winter crop, and when the harvester is full, Karen will drive alongside, filling the pickup

Missouri is about halfway done with a decade-old plan to reduce its number of highway rest stops and improve those that remain. But it's unclear when the state will have enough money to finish the job. The Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission heard an update Wednesday on the rest-stop renovation plan, which was developed in 2000 as a way to reduce annual operating costs, spruce up the facilities for tourists and expand the number of parking spots available to commercial truck drive

A plan by Global Partners to begin shipping ethanol by rail to its Revere terminal is drawing concern in the city, where it is the focus of a nonbinding ballot question. Tweet Be the first to Tweet this!.ShareThis .According to Fire Chief Gene Doherty, the Waltham-based oil distributor is planning to transport ethanol from Albany, N.Y., to its Revere facility on Lee Burbank Highway (Route 1A). Between Devens and Revere, he said, the trains would travel by night, in at least some places using

A key monthly indicator of U.S. transportation activity weakened considerably in July, reflecting the sluggishness of the U.S. economy and signaling continued stagnation for the balance of 2011. The index, compiled by freight payment and auditing firm Cass Information Systems Inc., found that shipments from more than 100 of the largest U.S. shippers declined 3.7 percent over June levels. Freight expenditures from those businesses declined sequentially by 2.1 percent last month as lower volume

Wheat dropped as Russian supplies may curb exports from the U.S., and as speculative investors liquidate bets that prices will rise amid economic concerns that threaten global demand for raw materials. Corn also fell. Russian growers have collected 27 million metric tons of wheat this year as yields surged 32 percent to 3.32 tons per hectare (2.5 acres), the Agriculture Ministry said earlier this week. Italy may be forced to turn to the European Central Bank for emergency funding unless fina

MANITOWOC -- Riverland Ag Corp. President Don Grambsch said Wednesday the initial number of employees who will work in the former downtown Busch malting plant will "be in the single digits." Following Monday's $4 million purchase of the plant owned by Anheuser-Busch InBev, the Minneapolis-based grain storage business now operates 15 facilities in Minnesota, North Dakota, Wyoming, Wisconsin, New York and Ontario, Canada. Grambsch said the Manitowoc facility, with 176 silos, will first be us

MAUMEE, Ohio, Aug. 3, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- The Andersons, Inc. (Nasdaq: ANDE), today announced second quarter net income attributable to the company of $45.2 million, or $2.42 per diluted share, on revenues of $1.3 billion. In the same three month period of 2010, the company reported results of $25.2 million, or $1.36 per diluted share, on revenues of $811 million. During the first six months of 2011, the company earned a record $62.5 million, or $3.34 per diluted share. In the first half of 201

Archer Daniels Midland Company announced the acquisition of English River Pellets, Inc., a grain elevator and animal feed manufacturing business with locations in Kalona and Washington, Iowa. English River Pellets has a combined grain storage capacity of 2.4 million bushels and produces pelleted animal feed for livestock. "With this acquisition, ADM establishes a strong footprint for our grain origination in Southeast Iowa," said Joe Taets, president, ADM Grain. "We will use the elevator fa

Remember NAFTA? The ambitious but controversial North American Free Trade Agreement between the United States, Canada and Mexico from the 1990s is back, this time as the backdrop to a contentious new cross-border deal allowing Mexican freight trucks onto U.S. highways. The agreement, announced last month by the Department of Transportation, is being assailed by critics as a possibly illegal undertaking that will take jobs from U.S. truckers and money from U.S. taxpayers. It is opposed by t

Acquisitions helped Trans-Force Inc., Canada's leading trucker, deliver a 31-per-cent surge in second-quarter revenue and a 20-per-cent gain in earnings despite sluggish recovery in North America. CEO Alain Bédard said Tuesday the appointment of five new vice-presidents to take over day-to-day operations of each business segment will let him focus more on strategy. "Opportunities remain in some fragmented areas but our priority is to digest our recent additions, raise efficiency, optimize

Though the amount of freight being shipped by truck in the U.S. is up, there aren't enough drivers to meet the demand. The trucking industry has faced two driver shortages: quality and quantity. In recent years, concerns over quality have come first, with regulators scoring truck drivers and the companies they work for. Get a low score and a pink slip isn't far behind. "That's not necessarily a bad thing," says Bob Costello of the American Trucking Association. "We want the best people out

Although more is written and said about using corn for ethanol, the livestock industry in the US continues to purchase more corn than any other sector year after year. According to reports released by the USDA this month and data supplied by PRX, US and international livestock continues to be the number one use for American corn, totalling approximately 7.7 billion bushels per year. An estimated 1.5 billion bushels of corn, or 80% of projected US corn exports, is used for feed overseas in

In your desperation for a steady job, perhaps you roll the dice and decide to become a truck driver. Think again; the gears are shifting. You just can't walk into those jobs anymore. Ironically, although there is a dearth of positions today, the long-term shortage of truck drivers in the nation is worsening. The shortfall is about 130,000 drivers nationwide, according to one estimate. Not only are older drivers retiring and younger people showing little interest, but trucking companies also

The hottest July since 1955 has taken its toll on Iowa's corn crop, with one forecast calling for a national corn yield this year no better than last year's smaller yield. Iowa State University meteorologist Ellwyn Taylor said Monday that "with heat and humidity, the likely U.S. corn yield is likely to be about like last year, at 153 bushels per acre." That was almost 7 percent below the 2009 yield. The U.S. Department of Agriculture in mid-July forecast this year's national corn yield at

BIG SANDY -- Winter wheat harvesting is now beginning in parts of Montana, a bit late because of the cold, wet spring and a bit uncertain because of dry, fairly hot conditions since. Still, crop yields look average to fair and it feels great to be out harvesting, say members of the three-generation Works family that was swathing, combining and hauling grain Monday at their farm west of Big Sandy. "The crops are pretty good and not a wreck by any means," said Dan Works, 50, who was doing util

This will be a live, interactive online event where investors are invited to ask the company representative questions in real-time both in the presentation hall as well as the company's "virtual trade booth." If attendees are not able to join the event live in real-time, an on-demand archive will be available for 90 days. It is recommended that investors pre-register to save time and receive event updates. About The Andersons, Inc. The Andersons, Inc. is a diversified company with in

Aug 1 2011 --- Cargill AgHorizons, a business unit of Cargill, and Agrex Inc, a wholly owned subsidiary of Mitsubushi Corporation, announced they are forming AC Grain, LLC, a 50-50 joint venture that will own and operate Cargill's grain elevator in Dana. The joint venture will make significant improvements to the Dana facility aimed at serving farmer customers. To be completed by harvest in 2013, the modernization project could eventually more than triple the unload capacity and warehouse spa

PHOENIX - A boost in the economy and a jump in job orders means that if you're looking for work, you might want to take your search on the road. The U.S. trucking industry is experiencing a nationwide shortage of workers. The industry will need to hire 200,000 drivers by the end of 2011, according to several nationwide trucking associations. With record high unemployment rates, FOX 10 asked local truckers why they think applicants aren't more enthusiastic about the job. "Right now there

CHICAGO -- Cargill Inc. Chief Executive Officer Greg Page, who runs the largest agricultural company in the United States, has a good idea whom to blame for the global surge in food prices at the end of 2010: governments. Page urged delegates and guests at the National Grain and Feed Association convention in San Diego in March to take action. He said government hoarding was the biggest contributor to the rise in prices, which had soared 15 percent from October through January and pushed 44 m

OMAHA -- Though it began production of ethanol as recently as 2008, Green Plains Renewable Energy, which has a significant presence in Iowa, is now the nation's fourth largest ethanol producer, reporting more than $2.1 billion in sales in the 2010 fiscal year. The sales figure for the company, whose symbol on the Nasdaq stock exchange is GPRE, comes not only from its nine ethanol plants but also 14 grain elevators in Iowa and Missouri -- giving it 33 million bushels of grain storage -- and a

In your desperation for a steady job, perhaps you roll the dice and decide to become a truck driver. Think again; the gears are shifting. You just can't walk into those jobs anymore. Ironically, although there is a dearth of positions today, the long-term shortage of truck drivers in the nation is worsening. The shortfall is about 130,000 drivers nationwide, according to one estimate. Not only are older drivers retiring and younger people showing little interest, but trucking companies are

Written by DAN PILLER dpiller@dmreg.com Filed Under Business Ads by Pulse 360 Get Listed HereSpringfield:Mom Makes Botox Doctors Furious Mom Reveals Clever $4 Wrinkle Therapy That Makes BOTOX Doctors Furious TheHigherLifestyle.com 1 Trick To 900% ROI 900% Penny Stock Gains. 100% Winning Streak Sign Up For FREE Premiumpennypicks.com Unemployed or Laid Off? Go Back to School. Take College Classes Online, On Your Own Time. www.YourDegree.com A couple of years ago, Des Moines trucking

If Iowa wants to think of itself as an agricultural superpower, it can go right ahead, based on a study by the Earth Policy Institute showing that Iowa farmers produced more grain, in tonnage, than either Canada or China, despite fewer acres. In 2010, Iowa produced 55 million tons of grain, mostly corn, on about 13 million acres, compared with 45 million tons of corn and wheat in Canada on 30 million acres. "The difference in yield per acre is huge, just 1.4 tons in Canada against more tha

CHECOTAH -- Livestock markets are flooded right now with cows and calves that producers can't afford to feed. Hay and grain prices have skyrocketed, and stock ponds are drying up in one of the hottest summers on record. Many of the producers may never buy cattle back and basically will go out of business, said Tommy Combs, partner in Combs Ranch north of Checotah. The ranch is owned by Combs and his nephew, Jason Combs. They run about 500 head of cows on land put together by Willard Com

National Farmers Union (NFU) submitted comments to Thomas Yager of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) about a possible reinterpretation of the Motor Carrier Act of 1935, the Motor Carrier Safety Act of 1984, and the Commercial Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 1986. The FMCSA is exploring the possibility of categorizing "implements of husbandry and other farm equipment" as commercial motor vehicles, thus requiring a commercial driver's license (CDL) to operate. "Most farmers have

The quantity of beef available to consumers in the United States has declined a startling amount in recent years, and that trend is going to continue. Unfortunately, even higher retail beef prices can be expected for consumers, said Chris Hurt, a Purdue University Extension economist. "The declining supplies are related to continuing liquidation of the cow herd in the past few years due to high feed prices, a weak U.S. dollar that is spurring beef exports, and, of course, drought in the South

Truckers traveling through Illinois soon will be able to drive the same speed as other vehicles on more roadways throughout the state. Other new truck rules also are approved. At the encouragement of truckers, Gov. Pat Quinn signed into law on Wednesday, July 27, a bill that takes the next step toward uniform speeds on roadways in the state. OOIDA leadership says Illinois truckers should be congratulated for their years of hard work pushing lawmakers to rid the state of speed limit differenti

Egypt bought 240,000 metric tons of wheat from Russia, Nomani Nomani, vice-chairman of the country's General Authority for Supply Commodities, told reporters today. The state-run authority, also known as GASC, bought 60,000 tons of milling wheat at $254.65 a ton from Glencore International and a similar amount of the grain at $254.80 from Viterra, Nomani said. It also bought 60,000 tons of the wheat at $255.25 a ton from Aston FFI and a similar quantity at $255.20 a ton from Louis Dreyfus, h

Overland Park-based Agrex Inc Agrex Inc Latest from The Business Journals Vancouver port lands M dealAgriculture commodities firm Agrex merges with subsidiary FGDIChildren's Learning Center remains on Moody Ave. Follow this company . will form a joint venture with a unit of Cargill Inc. to own and expand a Cargill grain elevator in Indiana. Agrex will team with Cargill AgHorizons in a 50-50 joint venture called AC Grain LLC. The companies said in a Friday release that the new joint venture

Brazil is buying record amounts of U.S. ethanol as soaring sugar prices encourage refiners to turn less of the cane crop into fuel for cars. Ethanol cargoes will climb 14-fold to 6.9 million barrels in the 12 months ending in March, said Christoph Berg, managing director of F.O. Licht GmbH, a Ratzeburg, Germany-based research company. The U.S. sent 1.57 million barrels to Brazil in April, a record 5.8 percent of its output and almost three times more than the month before, data from the Depar

Wheat use in feed is set to reach the highest in more than 20 years, lifted by its "competitive cost" and supplies boosted by harvests which look like beating previous expectations, the International Grains Council said. The IGC, in a much-watched monthly report, hiked its estimate for the world wheat harvest in 2011-12 by 8m tonnes to 674m tonnes, citing "significant upward revisions" to hopes for Europe, India, Russia and the US. However, most of the increase – 6m tonnes - will be swallo

Pilgrim's Pride Corp. reported this morning a loss of $128.1 million for its second quarter, bringing its 2011 loss to date to $248.9 million, attributing its plight to record-high corn and other costs and weak consumer demand in a marketplace burdened by excess production. The company said its total feed ingredient costs for the first half of this year have been $400 million higher than in the first half of last year, while demand at foodservice and retail that normally strengthens in the mi

TOPEKA, Kan. -- Gov. Sam Brownback has signed an order making it easier to deliver hay quickly to drought-stricken parts of Kansas. An executive order signed Wednesday suspends certain motor carrier rules and regulations for people hauling hay to livestock. Those include rules on permits, load sizes and nighttime travel of oversized loads. Severe drought has left pastures in poor condition in many parts of Kansas, making it hard for livestock producers to feed their herds. Brownback says t

FARGO -- The upshot of a three-day tour of North Dakota's wheat fields by a bushel and a peck of industry types was that the crop looks surprisingly good. "It's better than I expected," said Ben Handcock, who has organized the tour for 20 years for the Wheat Quality Council. "It's better than most people expected." The group's field sampling found that the hard red spring wheat crop, while behind normal maturation, has a yield potential of 41.5 bushels an acre. Except for the last two yea

With more than $107 billion in revenue, Cargill Inc. Cargill Inc. Latest from The Business Journals Five Wichitans named to Brownback's Council of Economic AdvisorsLiberty buying old Tonka Toys HQMosaic sales, profits skyrocket on higher prices Follow this company holds a claim as the world's largest private company. But are family members interested in keeping it that way? That's the theme of a corporate profile of Cargill by Bloomberg, which is fascinating both for its illustration of ju

With freight volume scoring its biggest year-over-year gain since January and rates rising for truckload (TL) and practically galloping ahead for less-than-truckload (LTL) motor carriers right now, one might presume this year's second half will end up the better half of trucking in 2011. But there's a lot more to where trucking may be headed then current data points might indicate, according to an expert analyst who closely tracks both the TL and LTL segments of trucking. Share Arti

Morning Summary: The trade obviously continues to focus on the weather. I am personally of the opinion that with additional rains being forecast for the northern half of the corn belt during the next few days, and the southern areas remaining blistering hot and dry, the trade is thoroughly confused. The recent heavy rains being reported in some areas is now a concern, but most traders are uncertain if they should buy into the potential yield problems being associated with the record high temps

The American Trucking Association reported yesterday that its truck tonnage index, a key barometer of economic activity, increased 6.8% in June from a year ago, the largest annual gain since an 8% increase in January. On a monthly basis, truck tonnage in June was 2.8% higher than May. ATA Chief Economist Bob Costello said "After growing 5.5% in the first half of the year from the same period last year, the strength of truck tonnage in the second half will depend greatly on what manufacturing

The grain-elevator company where a teenager died after suffocating in a pile of grain two years ago failed to properly train workers, to close and lock out the chute to a grain bin, and to develop required emergency action plans, federal authorities charged Tuesday. The U.S. Attorney's Office filed a criminal charge of aiding and abetting and violating federal workplace-safety regulations against Wiley-based Tempel Grain Elevators. The charge carries up to a $500,000 fine and one year of supe

HUGOTON, Kan. (AP) -- The federal government will provide funds for a project to convert switchgrass to biofuels in southwest Kansas. The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced Tuesday that it will help fund the project on 20,000 acres in southwest Kansas and a small part of Oklahoma. The switchgrass will be grown around a biomass conversion plant in Hugoton. Abengoa Biofuels says the plant will be operating by 2013. The company said in a news release that the plant will convert 315,000

Cargill Inc. Chief Executive Officer Greg Page, who runs the largest agricultural company in the U.S., has a good idea whom to blame for the global surge in food prices at the end of 2010: governments. Page urged 708 delegates and guests at the National Grain and Feed Association convention in San Diego in March to take action, Bloomberg Markets magazine reports in its September issue. He said government hoarding was the biggest contributor to the rise in prices, which had soared 15 percent

Cash premiums for U.S. corn and soybeans shipped this month to export terminals near New Orleans widened relative to Chicago futures as increased processor demand reduced shrinking supplies for exporters. The spot-basis bid, or premium, for corn delivered this month was 86 cents to 91 cents a bushel above September futures, compared with 80 cents to 86 cents yesterday, U.S. Department of Agriculture data show. The soybean premium was 76 cents to 84 cents a bushel above August futures, up fro

The US grain farming industry includes about 200,000 farms with combined annual grain revenue of more than $60 billion. No major companies dominate the industry. Farms in the industry generate at least half of their revenue from field corn, wheat, or rice. Producers of sweet corn, a vegetable, are not included in the industry. COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE Demand is driven by government policies and consumer trends in eating grains, meat, and corn-based sweeteners, like high-fructose corn sy

Trucking company executives want lawmakers to raise the bar for new companies entering the industry. In testimony before a Senate subcommittee this past week, the American Trucking Associations American Trucking Associations Latest from The Business Journals FedEx sending 115 drivers to trucker championshipTrucking convention rolling to GrapevineATA: Truck shipments fall again Follow this company urged Congress to adopt several association initiatives to improve highway safety, including a

Congress was sent a letter by the Coalition for Transportation Productivity (CTP) in order to confront what it said is "misinformation" surrounding federal truck weight legislation known as the Safe and Efficient Transportation Act (SETA). In the letter, CTP says it has "dispelled incorrect allegations about SETA that have been propagated by groups opposed to the legislation." Share Article Tools BookmarkEmailReprintSavePrintCommentAdvertisement Advertisement "The Safe and Effi

Re: "Single desk helps farmers," by Allen Oberg, Letters, July 21. I would like to respond to the letter from Allen Oberg in support of the Canadian Wheat Board's (CWB) current single-desk grain marketing system. While many Prairie farmers do indeed support a single desk, a vocal minority seems to have convinced the Conservative Party of Canada that a deregulated free market in grain is the best way to maximizing farmers' incomes. The real issue here is about democracy and the way Prair

Farmers and ranchers in Hawaii and the Pacific Rim will receive $2.6 million in payments from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to help compensate for the high cost of getting their product to market on the Mainland, Sen. Daniel K. Inouye and Sen. Daniel K. Akaka have announced. The Reimbursement Transportation Cost Payment Program for Geographically Disadvantaged Farmers and Ranchers (RTCP), provides payments intended to offset a portion of the costs of transporting agricultural products an

BRUNSWICK -- The Missouri River gave the shipping industry too much of what it needed this summer. After a lasting drought in the river basin decimated the corridor's barge industry for the past decade, this summer's flooding has washed away hopes for a bounce-back year. MoreStory -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Related Media The towboat Mary Lynn

MOLINE, Ill. -- After focusing on moving earth for agriculture and industry for most of its 174-year history, Deere and Co. now is fighting for its place in the skies. By Christopher Gannon, Gannett Inspector Jamie Christenson looks over a model 4730 sprayer on the assembly line at John Deere Des Moines Works plant in Ankeny, Iowa, on July 13. EnlargeCloseBy Christopher Gannon, Gannett Inspector Jamie Christenson looks over a model 4730 sprayer on the assembly line at John Deere Des Moin