Bulk Freight News & Industry Updates - Stay Ahead in Trucking

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 [email protected] 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

Lots of married couples work in the same office, but Doug Morgan and Cathy Dufrene are a special case: They spend 24 hours a day, six days a week together in the tiny cab of a semi-trailer truck. And to hear them tell it, they've never had an argument. "Really and truly you've got to get along to be in something this small," Dufrene said. Morgan and Dufrene, who live in Charlotte, drive 6,800 miles a week for Con-way Truckload. Not only do they survive the long trips to California and back

VALLEY SPRINGS, S.D. -- The Valley Springs Farmers Elevator is expanding its capacity by an additional 120,000 bushels, due mainly to increasing yields for corn, soybeans and other crops. Construction on the current 250,000-bushel facility is expected to be completed by September. Elevator manager Brian Fick says the added capacity is needed to keep up with burgeoning crops. The South Dakota Agriculture Department says the state's corn crop is at 5.4 million acres, up 850,000 acres over la

OVERLAND PARK, Kan. (AP) -- YRC Worldwide Inc. has recruited a past employee to serve as its new chief executive officer. The Kansas City Star reported that the Overland Park-based trucking giant chose James L. Welch on Friday to make good on promises that the newly restructured company will recover and prosper. The 57-year-old Welch has spent 29 years with YRC, including leading its vast trucking operations. Since October 2008, he has led Dallas-based Dynamex Inc., a transportation compan

Commodities prices have fluctuated in recent years, and so has revenue for Overland Park-based commodity trading company Lansing Trade Group Lansing Trade Group Latest from The Business Journals Lansing Trade Group takes over Nielsen Grain Co. facilityLansing Trade Group, C.A. Perry & Son join to run grain facilitiesKansas City-area agricultural companies harvest modest growth in revenue Follow this company LLC ­-- more than $1 billion each way. Lansing, which landed at No. 6 on this year'

McPherson County -- Call it the silver lining, the saving grace or just the best option for a bad situation. The failed dryland wheat crop that dotted the McPherson County landscape is now disappearing - quickly. Weeks of heat and no rain crippled the crop to the point that plants did not produce any usable grain. That left the crop invaluable for its traditional use, and farmers scrambling to find an alternative. That's where Allan Sents, owner of McPherson County Feeders, came in. Sents do

The federal government pays oil companies about $6 billion a year to blend ethanol into your gasoline; it's been subsidizing ethanol for 33 years now. But any agreement in Washington, D.C., to raise the debt ceiling will most likely include a plan to cut off that subsidy. And after all these years, many in the ethanol industry say they don't really care. The end of the subsidy -- and the mixed reaction to that idea -- reveals how the world of corn ethanol has changed dramatically. Blending

Jeff Langenhahn knows trucking. He has driven professionally for 26 years, including almost 18 years with Con-way Freight, and has logged 2 million miles behind the wheel over that time. It shouldn't come as surprise, then, that the Plover resident has found success in competition that gauges drivers' skills. Langenhahn, 45, took first place in the tanker division at the 2011 Wisconsin State Truck Driving Championships, held in Waukesha in June. He'll compete next in the National Truck Drivi

The Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA) welcomed the announcement that Mexico and the United States have signed an agreement ending a 16-year dispute that will allow Mexican trucks access to operate in the United States and slash Mexican tariffs placed on U.S. exports to Mexico. Today's signing between the Mexican Ministry of Communication and Transportation and the U.S. Department of Transportation on Long-Haul Cross-border Motor Carrier Services (MoU) formalizes the agreement annou

Train whistles and the clickety-clack of freight cars rolling along the tracks were welcome sounds to the ears of many Petalumans last week. But the resumption of rail deliveries is welcome news for more than just nostalgic reasons. Local businesses such as Hunt & Behrens, Dairyman's Feed & Supply and Petaluma Poultry are happy because they will realize big savings on their shipping costs. Feed transport costs, which have skyrocketed in recent years, will be reduced to about half of what t

The efforts of the Multi-County Truck Regulatory Agency seem to be paying off, the agency's board learned from its patrol officer during its regular meeting Wednesday. "We're getting calls from the grain elevators about their worst offenders," said Tim Gillespie, truck regulatory officer. "And they're telling us that weights are coming down." The four-county agency was formed this past winter to reduce the numbers of overweight trucks on county roads. The involved counties contribute to c

Aventine Renewable Energy Holdings, Inc. /quotes/zigman/593525 AVRW +17.38% , a leading producer and marketer of ethanol and related products announced that it has taken another step on its path toward a stronger financial future: Aventine has entered into a credit agreement with Wells Fargo Credit Finance, LLC. The new credit facility, if fully drawn, is a $50 million asset based revolving credit facility with a borrowing base principally supported by the inventory and account receivable of

A Reddick, Ill., grain facility will deal more in distillers grains, among other changes, following a lease of the assets to Lansing Trade Group LLC. Nielsen Grain Co. turned over operations to Lansing following an agreement on July 15. Lansing plans to expand the facility's capacity and increase marketing alternatives for producers. The grain facility handles corn, soybeans, wheat, distillers grains and soybean meal. Lansing had done some business with the grain company before, including mov

If you want to become rich, Jim Rogers, investment whiz, best-selling author and one of Wall Street's towering personalities, has this advice: Become a farmer. Food prices have been high recently. Some have questioned how long that can continue. Not Rogers. He predicts that farming incomes will rise dramatically in the next few decades, faster than those in most other industries -- even Wall Street. The essence of his argument is this: We don't need more bankers. What we need are more farmers. T

The head of U.S. grain-trading giant Bunge Ltd. (BG-N71.060.700.99%) welcomes Ottawa's decision to dismantle the Canadian Wheat Board and says his company is preparing to jump into the market. "I think pretty much every [country] has eliminated their board trade because it's not always well managed," Bunge chief executive Alberto Weisser said in an interview from Winnipeg, where he was visiting some of the company's Canadian operations. "The concept is brilliant, but it's how it is managed. A

As the contentious debt ceiling negotiations in Washington approach the eleventh hour, the nation's top farm and commodity groups are hoping to slip a letter under President Barack Obama's door. "As organizations that have a stake in agriculture and a robust rural economy, we urge a timely resolution to the ongoing debt ceiling negotiations," says the letter, dated July 19. The letter, organized by National Farmers Union and also signed by 33 other key groups, asks the President, and the m

Cargill grain has launched the process of trying to sell it's Albright grain elevator. Expressions of Interest on the facility are being accepted, with site tours for prospective buyers slated to take place this week, and any potential bids having to be closed by the end of the month. County of Grande Prairie Economic Development Manager Walter Paszkowski is hopeful someone will be interested in buying the facility and resuming service to that area. The elevator was closed by Cargill on

OMAHA, Neb.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Gavilon, LLC today announced that it completed the acquisition of the refined products rack marketing business from Plains All American Pipeline, L.P. The business complements the company's physical energy services and will significantly expand its participation in the wholesale fuels business. The Houston-based refined products rack marketing team is led by Rob Fuller, head of refined products marketing and trading at Gavilon. For business inquiries, please con

Lansing Trade Group Lansing Trade Group Latest from The Business Journals Lansing Trade Group, C.A. Perry & Son join to run grain facilitiesKansas City-area agricultural companies harvest modest growth in revenueAg firms harvest revenue growth Follow this company LLC, an Overland Park-based commodity trading company, has taken over Nielsen Grain Co. operations in Reddick, Ill. According to a release, Nielsen leased assets to Lansing after a long-standing relationship between the two compan

JOLIET -- The idea of putting a city fee on cargo containers shipped through CenterPoint Intermodal Center-Joliet was put on the shelf Monday. The proposal from District 1 Councilman Larry Hug was powerful enough to draw several shipping and trucking industry representatives to a workshop meeting of the Joliet City Council, where the idea of a $50 fee was considered. They told the council that such a fee would chase business away from the new intermodal center. The city's own attorney said

MADISON, Wis. (Legal Newsline) - Wisconsin Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen and Secretary Ben Brancel announced a $100,000 judgment on Friday against a grain company and its owner over alleged state grain security law violations. Bowers Feed and Grain Inc., and owner Jim Vandenberg, a Brown County, Wis., grain warehouse keeper and dealer, allegedly violated state grain security laws by failing to hold a grain warehouse keeper's license or a grain dealer's license, repeatedly failing to pay ca

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has designated almost 40 Nebraska counties as disaster areas as a result of widespread flooding along the Missouri River and its tributaries in 2011. The Monday announcement means that "hundreds of producers" in affected counties are eligible to apply for low-interest emergency loans from USDA's Farm Service Agency. Fifteen Nebraska counties, including Cass, Nemaha, Otoe, Richardson and Sarpy, were on the primary list approved by federal officials. Twe

(PRWEB) July 19, 2011 Anderson Hay & Grain Co., Inc., a leading U.S. based exporter of hay and straw products has been named among the Top 100 Exporters by the Journal of Commerce (JOC). As a fast growing, family owned company, Anderson Hay & Grain Co., Inc. is proud to be named among this elite group of American companies. Anderson Hay & Grain Co., Inc. is a leading second generation, family owned and operated, company specializing in hay export, specifically Timothy Hay, Alfalfa Hay an

(Reuters) - Rising fertilizer prices and robust food demand helped Mosaic Co (MOS.N) post a better-than-expected quarterly profit on Monday. The results for the fiscal fourth quarter ended May 31 bode well for the Minnesota-based company as it becomes truly independent from agricultural giant Cargill CARG.UL, which sold its majority stake in Mosaic earlier this year. Net income rose to $649.2 million, or $1.45 per share, compared with $396.1 million, or 89 cents per share, in the year-ago

The federal government just can't stay out of agriculture. From subsidy programs that decide winners and losers in the markets by favoring corporate farms over family farms to ethanol rules that sacrifice food for fuel to laws that give undue influence and power to a select few pesticide and seed producers, Washington has maintained a stranglehold over farming that has forever altered the industry's competitive landscape and doomed consumers to pay ever-higher prices at the grocery store. It

Lansing Trade Group, LLC has assumed operations at Nielsen Grain Company in Reddick, IL. After a brief closure for the change of operations, Lansing said it will start accepting grain and grain products into the facility for merchandising and storage. Lansing plans to expand the footprint of this facility with added capacity, while increasing marketing alternatives for producers and for the movement of distillers grains. Additionally, Lansing Transportation Services, LLC will begin operations of

MAUMEE, Ohio, July 18, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- The Andersons, Inc. (Nasdaq: ANDE) today announced it has entered a grain merchandising agreement with Trotter, Inc., of Arcadia, Neb. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20081104/CLTU081LOGO ) The agreement provides The Andersons with access to an additional 4.1 million bushels of storage space in Nebraska. "This agreement reinforces The Andersons' ongoing commitment to customers in Nebraska," says Hal Reed, President of The Andersons

Amarillo, Texas - Amarillo fire crews worked late into the night Friday, into early Saturday morning to put out a fire at a grain elevator. The fire broke out on South Manhattan street late Friday night, and burned a storage room in the vacant building. It's undergoing a major renovation, so luckily there wasn't any major financial loss and no one was injured. As far as the cause, the fire department says it's a spark, ember of flame from operating equipment, and that it was not set int

Agriculture has been a big part of northwest Oklahoma's economy since the area was settled. That holds true today. Although agriculture has diversified, wheat remains king in the area. The Enid area remains the prime wheat-growing area of Oklahoma. Although the prolonged drought has battered wheat producers throughout the state, farmers in this area came away in better shape than many. Overall production in Oklahoma is forecast to be 74.8 million bushels, quite a bit below last year's p

The U.S. Department of Transportation's Bureau of Transportation Statistics' Freight Transportation Services Index shows that truck freight shipments in May fell to their lowest level since November 2010. The index dropped 1.8% in May from April, the second straight monthly decline. Freight shipments had been hot, increasing in 17 of the last 25 months. But freight shipments, according to the Freight Transportation Services Index, have fallen in three of the last four months. Shipments had i

By Karl Henkel [email protected] YOUNGSTOWN Bob Costello says the trucking industry could have big problems in the coming years. It has nothing to do with high gasoline prices. It has everything to do with employment. Costello, chief economist for Virginia-based American Trucking Association, expects a shortage of truckers to surpass 100,000 in the next few years as economic activity continues to pick up. "We expect it to get as bad as it's ever been," he said. "Which is qui

By Charlie Morasch, Land Line staff writer Fresh off the recent announcement that the U.S. and Mexico will expand cross-border trucking comes startling figures that show the saturation of organized crime in Mexico and the target that commercial trucks have become. According to TSA's "Transportation Suspicious Incidents Report", criminals in Mexico hijacked more than 10,000 commercial trucks last year. The hard statistic gives a rare glimpse into the world of cargo theft in Mexico. News

The forecast for Arkansas' winter wheat crop says the record yield of 61 bushels per acre set in 2006 could be tied this year. The Arkansas Crop Production Report by the National Agricultural Statistics Service places the expected yield at seven bushels per acre higher than last year. The average nationwide is expected to be about 46 bushels per acre. The expected strong yield comes despite floods, drought, high winds and hail during the growing season earlier this year. Extension wheat ag