Bulk Freight News & Industry Updates - Stay Ahead in Trucking

Variation is the watchword in any analysis of broker compensation, says Beth Carroll, managing principal of the Prosperio Group compensation consultancy and author of the Transportation Intermediaries Associations annual compensation survey three years running. Agent model brokers will take home typically anywhere from 40 to 70 percent of their profits after transportation costs. Say a broke

Celadon is steeling itself for another legal battle after a judge ruled that the company had breached the terms of its agreement by failing to pass on fuel rebate savings to its drivers, effectively taking $3.8 million out of their pockets. Like other large carriers, Celadon has a fuel rebate deal with Pilot Flying J which allows them to buy fuel at a discount. Celadon owner-operators purchase fuel from PFJ with their fuel cards, the money for which is later

Though hes only 28, Bryan Lundberg has run as an owner-operator and managed a small fleet. He and his father operated the fleet, KAL Logistics, and at the height of Lundbergs involvement, he was responsible for 18-19 trucks, eight of them company-owned. Lundberg recalled the purchase of his Cat-powered 2005 Kenworth W900L when he was 19 or 20, shy of the 21 years required to drive interstate legally. I just continued to do custom work on it, he says.

Mayo Schmidt, former CEO of Viterra Inc., will not be taking over as the chief executive officer of Louis Dreyfus Commodities, as announced in late November following an 18-month search. Schmidt, 57, was due to start in the position on Monday, but won't do so now, the Rotterdam-based company said in a statement last week. "Following a more detailed analysis of the terms and conditions of their planned employment relationship, Louis Dreyfus Commodities and

As oil-and-gas producers' demand spikes for frac sand, a key ingredient used in hydraulic fracturing, there's mounting concern about the industry's air emissions. Toxic dust kicked up when the sand is produced and transported is a known trigger of lung disease. For this reason, legislators in Minnesota, the fourth-largest producer of this special sand, committed 18 months ago to revamping air quality regulations for the industry. Staff at the Minne

Hennepin County on Tuesday sold the defunct grain elevator on Hiawatha Avenue at 41st Street for its minimum price: $23,000. The buyer is a Minnesota native and Twin Cities property owner named Adam Mackie, a Navy officer based in Germany. He wants to turn the old structure into apartments. Mackie, originally from Ely, Minn., was the sole bidder for the elevator in an auction at the Hennepin County Government Center. When bid

By Michael Schwerdtfeger Managing Director, Chapman Associates Now is a great time to sell a trucking business. The steady economic uptick and correlating demand for freight has created a shortage of the trucks and quality drivers needed to meet these increasing demands. As a result, large and midsize trucking companies are looking for ways to increase capacity, and many are finding the acquisition of smaller fleets a cost-effective solution. The

After two years of mulling over the state of the state's transportation system, Democrats and Republicans, liberals and conservatives, urban and rural leaders alike agree there's a gap between how much revenue Minnesota raises and how much it needs to preserve and improve its highways, bridges and transit services over the coming decade. There's bipartisan awareness across the state that transportation is a cornerstone of "what Minnesota cares most about: our economy, our environment a

Owner/operator drivers for Celadon Group Inc. do a lot of fueling at Pilot and Flying J truck stops, where they can use a charge card provided by Celadon to buy fuel at a discount to the cash price. After fueling, drivers get a receipt showing the chargean amount Celadon later deducts from their pay. But Celadon does not actually pay the same fuel price it charges back to its drivers, court documents show. The Indianapolis-based trucking giant pays a more deeply disc

The Associated Press 1/5/2015 JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. A state lawmaker wants to increase the speed limit on Missouri's rural interstates and freeways from 70 mph. State Rep. Mike Kelley of Lamar filed legislation recently to boost the speed limit on those roads to 75 mph. Kansas increased speed limits from 70 mph on some roads in 2011. The Kansas City Star reports traffic-related fatalities and injuries in Kansas are up on roads with newly

Freight factoring company, Smart Freight Funding, helps trucking companies of all sizes keep their trucks moving by getting paid quicker. Smart Freight Funding works with single truck operations, individual owner-operator, and larger companies managing several trucks and drivers. We offer competitive low rates, quick pay, and superb customer service. The team behind Smart Freight Funding has more than 50 years combined driving, dispatching, contracting and accounting experience in t

Late Wednesday afternoon, Pacific Ethanol Inc. (NASDAQ: PEIX) announced that it had entered a definitive merger agreement with a Midwest-based producer of ethanol, Aventine Renewable Energy Holdings, in an all-stock deal valued at approximately $190 million. The combination will more than double Pacifi

The owner of a now-shuttered carrier has been charged with hundreds of counts of theft after it was discovered that he allegedly stole money from the retirement accounts of his 100+ employees. When one of his employees confronted him about money missing from his retirement account, the owner allegedly asked Youre that upset about $15,000? According to the suit brought against him, Timothy Kephart, owner of Kephart Trucking, allegedly too

A Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, man avoided a Northampton County Prison sentence for knocking out a tractor-trailer driver at a Lower Saucon Township dump. Judge Paula Roscioli convicted Danny Mohammed, 44, last month of simple assault and harassment for injuring Douglas Gruver at the IESI Landfi

COAL TOWNSHIP - A wayward trucker attempting to return to Route 61 after a wrong turn cut a corner too closely and tore the facade from a home on Rock Street. David Rarick discovered the front of his house had been obliterated in the Dec. 4 accident when he opened up the New Item's website and saw the destruction. He rushed home to check on his dog, Thor, who had miraculously survived despite his usual napping spot - Rarick's bed - dangling from the second story. Newbie trucker

By HOPE YEN The Associated Press 12/29/2014 WASHINGTON The chairman of the House Transportation Committee says passing a bill to pay for America's aging roads and bridges will be a top priority next year but is ruling out a gasoline tax hike or motorist user fees as the way to do it. Rep. Bill Shuster, R-Pa., has previously said a vehicle-miles-traveled tax should be considered as an alternative to increasing the 18.4 cent per gallon gas t

ELDs More Stick Than Carrot In the stick or carrot discussion of employee motivation and management, electronic logging devices typically are considered as and used as a stick against truck drivers. Maybe this should be expected, as the two groups of people who commonly lead the list of proponents of ELDs are those who are less than knowledgeable about the actual driving of trucks, and ELD manufacturers. ELDs a

SAN ANTONIO - The owner of a Southtown auto repair shop is accused of taking a customer's money and failing to perform the job he was hired to do. An arrest affidavit stated a truck driver contacted San Antonio police saying that he had paid 39-year-old Michael Joseph Gonzalez $6,000 in a deal to replace the engine on his big rig, but Gonzalez did not perform any of the work. He told police he was passing through San Antonio on Nov. 17 when his truc

For all the criticism Congress earns, Washington rarely passes legislation that clearly will kill and injure innocent Americans. But that's exactly what the lame duck Congress just did. No, our senators and representatives in Washington didn't approve drone strik

The U.S. departments of Transportation and Justice announced two legal actions aimed at bogus freight brokers operating improperly: a guilty plea in Illinois and an indictment in New York. DOTs Office of Inspector General started the investigative work in the cases, and U.S. attorneys handled the proceedings in two U.S. district courts. In Chicago, Dragan Simovski, the operator of Freedom Transportation Inc., pleaded guilty to one count of w

For some reading this article, the answer might be obvious. However for those that have run sell side deals without combing through the full list of competitors, or is perhaps executing said deal at this moment, this could be worth the 5 minute read. Others would rather burn their company than to sell to their competitor. It has many downsides. There are two core reasons that competitors make good buyers. Deal motives and deal synergies. How does that w

A spectrum of possible': Companies in an array of industries are working to shatter the status quo. Here is one. Farmers in tractors plowing, planting, and harvesting their fields in a cloud of dust is a classic image of rural America. It may not be for long. Companies such as Kinze Manufacturing, a large farm-equipment maker in Iowa, are developing variations of driverless tractors that would turn a century-old chore over to robots and free farmers to do other work w