Bulk Freight News & Industry Updates - Stay Ahead in Trucking

By Keith Goble, Land Line state legislative editor A new law in Kentucky covers unfair clauses in trucking contracts. Gov. Steve Beshear signed a bill into law to do away with indemnification clauses in trucking contracts. The clauses are set up to protect shippers or hold them harmless from anything that happens with a shipment. Effective July 15, provisions in contracts are outlawed that provide for shippers to be indemnified for losses caused by their own negligence and make them “void

By: Sara Schafer, Farm Journal Media Business and Crops Editor As of April 20, USDA estimates 6% of the U.S. corn crop is planted, which compares to a five-year average 14% by this time. Unfortunately, the weather forecast doesn’t look favorable for planting conditions in the coming week. Severe thunderstorms and isolated tornadoes are a possibility from April 26-29 across a broad area stretching from the central and southern Plains into parts of the Midwest, Mid-South, and Southeast, acco

Given how nervous the ATA seems to be about the “driver shortage,” they may have reason to reconsider their staunchly pro-EOBR stance. A recent poll of Overdrive Online readers who were asked what their response would be to the implementation of the proposed EOBR/ELD mandate revealed that 71% of all independent truckers claimed that they would hang up their hats and quit OTR trucking for good. The results of the poll were based off of the responses of over 2,300 independent truckers, defined

By Dr. Jennifer S. Batchelor http://blogs.dcvelocity.com/ Guest Post By Rico Fleshman, Corporate and Strategic Manager for Transportation, Logistics and Supply Chain at American Public University The first federal, multi-year transportation bill enacted since 2005, Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century (MAP-21), was signed into law in July 2012. The bill funded surface transportation programs for FY-13 and FY-14 at just over $105 billion and transformed the national transportation

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — A Minnesota-based agriculture company was fined $211,000 by federal safety regulators who said Wednesday it had repeatedly failed to ensure workers weren't exposed to grain-dust hazards in Montana. CHS Inc. was cited by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration for 19 workplace safety violations at grain elevators in Cut Bank, Glendive, Denton and Valier. A company spokeswoman said CHS will challenge the violations. Three were repeat violations, including fai

By Mike Wiser, Lee-Gazette Des Moines Bureau DES MOINES — People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals has asked the Iowa Department of Transportation for permission to erect a 10-foot-tall memorial to the turkeys that perished in a Sioux City truck crash on April 12. “The (Department of Transportation) doesn’t permit memorials at all,” Iowa Department of Transportation Director of Traffic and Safety Steve Gent said. “When they go up, we try to contact people to remove them to the right of

Here's How Stuff Gets Shipped Across America ANDY KIERSZ There are many ways to track U.S. economic activity. Billionaire Warren Buffett likes to follow railroad traffic. However, rail isn't the only means by which goods get transported around the country. In fact, you could argue that trucking is a much more sensitive to the economy. The Bureau of Transportation statistics runs the Commodity Flows Survey every five years (most recently in 2012), tracking what kinds of goods are shippe

By DOROTHY COX The Trucker Staff 4/22/2014 WASHINGTON —The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is doing a good job of collecting data on trucking carriers and motorcoach companies but they need to act on the information more quickly and put bad actors out of business before they cause fatalities, said outgoing National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) Chairman Deborah A.P. Hersman. Hersman came to the board in 2004. She’s leaving to become president and CEO of the National Safety

ARLINGTON, VA - -The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has just released an analysis of the hours-of-service restart rules that went into effect July, 2013. But according to the renowned American transportation consultants American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI), they should really get back to the drawing board. “ATRI’s analysis [of the FMCSA report] raises enough questions about FMCSA’s own study that should compel a comprehensive review of the entire rule,”

The Associated Press 4/22/2014 LOS ANGELES — California air quality officials are considering giving small trucking operations more time to comply with new rules to clean up diesel emissions. The proposal would push back deadlines by a few years for small fleets, lightly used trucks and those in rural areas with cleaner air, and offer other adjustments to assist truck owners, the Los Angeles Times reported Sunday (http://lat.ms/1rfppR1 ). The state Air Resources Board said even with the ch

Could the implementation of the electronic logging device mandate cause huge numbers of drivers to simply bow out and leave the industry out of frustration with perceived overregulation? According to results from a recent survey done by CCJ publisher Randall-Reilly, a big chunk of drivers are threatening to leave the industry if the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s proposed ELD mandate comes to fruition, which could be as early as 2016. The public comment period for the ELD ma

Nixa, MO (PRWEB) April 21, 2014 BulkLoads.com, a load posting website for the dry and liquid bulk freight industry, added two new load search options to refine the way carriers search for loads, making finding loads quicker and more convenient. The release comes as the fast-growing load board reaches a record number of loads posted. Load postings are reaching record highs online as shippers continue to overcome various challenges from this past winter from the heavy demand of rail freight to

By James Dornbrook Kansas City Business Journal In a city better known as the home of Sprint Corp. and Hallmark Cards Inc., it can be easy to forget that Kansas City remains a leading agricultural hub. Five of the largest private companies and the second-largest public company based in the area do business related to agriculture or food. Companies such as Dairy Farmers of America, Lansing Trade Group LLC, Seaboard Corp., The Scoular Co., and Bartlett and Co. are not only reminders of Kans

The U.S. Department of Transportation expects developments for three new trucking related rules in the rest of 2014. The rules deal with driver coercion, a system for identifying carriers that need safety intervention, the use of speed limiters and an increase in minimum insurance coverage for carriers. A rule which would help prevent driver coercion was expected to clear the White House’s Office of Management and Budget earlier this week, but it has not yet been released. The rule could be pub

Wendy Parker http://www.overdriveonline.com/ It’s time again to put a little list together for the people who are officially unaffiliated with the industry. This statement alone is a fallacy: trucking is everyone’s business, as I have found myself reminding people time and again. Which brings us to number one on the list of things the Facebook readers, who just happen to also be professional drivers, wanted me to get out to the general public. 1. When we asked drivers what they wanted kno

Jim Grawe, [email protected] CANTON, Kan. - Along Highway 56 east of McPherson is something you don't see every day, and it's growing by a foot every hour. "I've never seen anything like it," Moundridge resident Richard Morgan says as he watches from his car. Sightseers are just parking and marveling at the sight of a giant grain elevator appearing before their eyes. "Just the size of it and the way it's all coming together--it's an amazing project!" Morgan adds. Construction start

By Thomas Black http://www.bloomberg.com/ The U.S. shale oil boom is putting millions of tons of sand onto North American railroads, enabling carriers to pack trains full instead of hauling just a handful of cars at a time. With help from Union Pacific Corp. (UNP) and Warren Buffett’s BNSF Railway Co., the sleepy silica sand industry that once mostly supplied glassmakers now ships more than 20 million tons of the material a year. Buyers including Halliburton Co. (HAL) and Schlumberger Ltd

By Karen E. Klein http://www.businessweek.com/ In 32 years as a truck driver and seven years as a transportation broker, DuWayne Marshall has seen it all: brokers who pay late or not at all; brokers who go bankrupt; brokers who run outright scams. “You’ve got a pile of somebody else’s money and there’s great temptation to use it for yourself, since you’re always paying backwards,” says Marshall, the owner of Watertown Refrigerated Logistics, based in Watertown, Wis. And the victims are,

Spend Matters welcomes another guest post from John Bauman, Principal Economist at IHS. IHS anticipates that 2014 will see weak prices for trucking, with the truckload sector experiencing flat prices and the less-than-truckload (LTL) sector experiencing only mild gains. The second half of the year is expected to be stronger than the first, but this improvement may be delayed, resulting in a weaker 2014 than forecasted before. This is particularly true in the truckload sector, where rates have ha

A trucking company has filed a lawsuit against the Illinois Department of Revenue over it disallowing the states rolling stock sales tax exemption on one of its pieces of equipment. At issue is the department's disallowance of a rolling stock exemption claimed by Illinois-based Seggebruch Trucking on the purchase of a Peterbilt truck, according to the Mid-West Truckers Association. The suit was filed after the company had paid a notice of tax liability issued by the department under protest.

By Josh Wood The Associated Press 4/15/2014 WILLISTON, N.D. — North Dakota officials say a Wyoming-based trucking company working in the state could face fines of more than $1 million for operating without a license and illegally dumping saltwater, a byproduct of oil production. The state's health and mineral resources departments announced the possible fines Tuesday. A Health Department official says Black Hills Trucking Inc. could be fined up to $1,000 for every day it operated without

On Monday, Mid Kansas Cooperative (MKC) offered a tour of the slip construction of the Canton Rail Terminal, a grain shuttle loader facility with the potential to load 110-car unit trains in less than 12 hours. Once loaded, grain will be exported to facilities in the Pacific Northwest, Gulf Coast and Mexico. The Canton Rail Terminal is on Avenue 25, just north of U.S Highway 56 between Galva and Canton. The necessity for a new elevator developed through two paths: current and potential grain c

http://www.truckinginfo.com/ The U.S. Transportation Department’s Federal Highway Administration is holding a webinar next month to provide an update on the progress of its Comprehensive Truck Size and Weight Limits Study. What’s described by the department as this third public outreach session will take place on May 6 from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m., Eastern time. The current federal highway funding authorization, known as MAP-21, requires the DOT to conduct a study addressing differences in saf

By Amy Dalrymple WILLISTON, N.D. – Criminal charges have been filed against a truck driver accused of illegally dumping oilfield waste in western North Dakota, and the trucking company he worked for could face more than $950,000 in civil penalties for repeat offenses, officials said Tuesday. Leo Slemin, a driver with Black Hills Trucking of Wyoming, has been charged with a Class C felony for allegedly illegally dumping saltwater, a byproduct of oil production and an environmental hazard.

Seaford, DE (PRWEB) April 15, 2014 Trinity Logistics has recently acquired Legacy Transportation, Inc. of Gladstone, Missouri. The Legacy staff, led by former President Harold Elliot, has joined the Trinity team in their location on Ambassador Drive in Kansas City, Missouri. Since 1991, Legacy Transportation served their customer base with full truckload shipping services. In order to meet the growing needs of their shippers, Legacy identified the opportunities of aligning themselves with

KIMBALL, SD - The railcar shortage is hitting hard across KELOLAND. As a result, a grain elevator near Kimball isn't able to ship out its corn and grain. "It's an issue I never thought we'd see, but here it is," farmer Brad Veurink said. The corn and milo piling up outside the Gavilon Liberty Grain near Kimball is creating a mountain that could soon rival the elevator itself. Manager Todd Yeaton says he's dealt with railcar shortages before, but never like this. "This widespread in multi

http://www.dcvelocity.com/ Study finds shippers are no longer satisfied with standard-issue IT offerings from their logistics service providers. By James A. Cooke In the face of ever-increasing shipper demands, carriers and third-party logistics service providers (3PLs) find themselves jumping through hoops to devise special information technology (IT) solutions. For that reason, the results of a recent survey of chief information officers (CIOs) for logistics and transportation servic

NEW BERN - A grain broker from Whiteville has been sentenced to serve two years in prison for a scheme to defraud a pork production company, U.S. Attorney Thomas G. Walker announced Friday. John Paul Smith, 48, was ordered to serve three years of supervised release after serving his active sentence on a guilty plea to mail fraud, a news release from the U.S. Attorney said. A U.S. district judge imposed the sentence Thursday, and Smith was ordered to report to prison no later than July 15. A f

By Herald staff A Salinas trucking company owner was ordered to spend 300 days in jail and pay more than $60,000 in fines for falsifying the number of his employees and the scope of their work Monterey County Superior Court Judge Russell Scott sentenced Ricardo Casillas, 33, on charges of insurance fraud, workers' compensation fraud and payroll tax evasion, the District Attorney's Office said. Casillas owns Desert Express Transportation Lines and Casillas Transportation Services. Cas

By César G. Rodriguez Laredo Morning Times A man arrested Thursday afternoon is accused of pocketing more than $23,000 in forged checks from a local trucking company, according to court records. Laredo police served an arrest warrant on a 54-year-old man, charging him with theft (embezzlement), a third-degree felony in the 3500 block of Paradise Drive in South Laredo. On Nov. 4, a representative of Royal Express Inc., 12115 Doc Adams Drive, reported that someone had stolen $2,464.11 b

The railroad problems that disrupted grain shipments throughout much of the winter may spill in to spring and delay the delivery of fertilizer that farmers need to plant spring crops, grain industry officials testified this week. During a hearing on Thursday, the Surface Transportation Board was told by grain officials and farmers that railroads need to restore service to levels a few years ago. One railroad, however, told the board it may take some time before they can add enough cars and c

GRANTS PASS, OR -- Hauling a truckload of logs to a Southern Oregon mill last fall, Chris Hill noticed a sheriff's deputy behind him and flashed his lights to warn a UPS driver coming the other way. The deputy pulled over Hill on U.S. Highway 140 in White City and handed him a $260 ticket for improperly using his headlights, saying another deputy had seen the flashing lights from behind the UPS truck and alerted him to stop the log truck because of the signaling. Outraged, Hill decided to

By RYAN ROBINSON | Staff Writer A truck overturned in Earl Township on Thursday, spilling a large amount of feed in a field. It happened along Tobacco Road, between Route 322 and Reidenbach Road, at 10:14 a.m. New Holland police said Dennis Becker, 54, of New Holland, was driving the truck and he told an officer his air brakes stopped working properly. Becker said he drove into a field to avoid traveling through a stop sign, police said. He was transported to Ephrata Community Hospital to

by Sean Kilcarr in Trucks at Work While the U.S. economy remains sluggish and a tough nasty winter left much of the nation’s highway networks a pot-holed, scrambled mess, things still seem to be looking up for trucking over both the short and long term. Indeed, the freight apple may be about as ripe as it’s ever going to get where trucking is concerned. For starters, let’s recognize that even though U.S. economic activity remains tepid – even after escaping the rough clutches of Old Man Wi

http://www.etrucker.com/ By James Jaillet Mega fleets Con-way (No. 4 in the CCJ Top 250), Werner (No. 10), Old Dominion (No. 12), Knight (No. 25) and Marten (No. 46) were among Forbes’ annual 100 Most Trusted Companies list, released this week. Con-way, Knight, Old Dominion and Werner all ranked in the Mid Cap category, which consists of companies with a market cap between $1 billion and $5 billion. Marten scored in the Small Cap category, companies with a market cap between $250 mil

http://www.railwayage.com/ At a morning news conference April 9, 2014 in Washington, D.C., findings from a recent report, An Analysis of Truck Size and Weight Issues, Phase I – Safety, were officially released, detailing the risks and detrimental impacts of increased truck sizes and weights on the nation's roadways and the American motoring public. The report, conducted at Marshall University by the Multimodal Transportation and Infrastructure Consortium (MTIC), a University Transportation

By KYLE BARNETT GRETNA – A woman who claims she entered into a contract to sell a refrigerated trailer to a trucking company and its owner in which they would pay her $30,000 in installments, claims breach of contract. Alma J. McKay filed suit against Dexter Varmall and Dexter Varmall Trucking in the 24th Judicial District Court on March 20. McKay alleges that on Nov. 1, 2009 she entered into a verbal contract with Varmall and Dexter Varmall Trucking in which they purchased a 1999 Wabas

KC Colby, CTV Barrie Drivers hoping that a diesel engine will save them some money have been sorely disappointed lately, especially truck drivers. The price of diesel is far outpacing the cost of regular gasoline. “Well put it this way, to fill up my truck you're looking at over $1,000,” says independent trucker Lee Ingratta. Ingratta is an independent trucker who spends most of his time hauling loads to and from the US. “Fuel is a heck of a lot cheaper over there,” he says. “It's ab

Young leaders in the freight brokerage industry discuss the future TEXT SIZE bigger text smaller textBy: Sonia Straface 2014-04-08 MISSISSAUGA, Ont. -- Delta Nu Alpha Transportation Network, a non-profit Mississauga, Ont.-based association, held a seminar March 27 and called the night a “perspective from the next generation.” Set up as a panel discussion with four young industry professionals (both carriers and freight brokers, all under the age of 40 were represented) its aim was to provi

BY ROD NICKEL (Reuters) - Canadian legislators on Monday amended a bill designed to ensure grain moves smoothly by rail by allowing the government to order railways to compensate shippers for poor service. The government's Canadian Transportation Agency currently has authority only to arbitrate matters on which the parties mutually agree. Railways can avoid paying compensation simply by refusing to negotiate a service level agreement with shippers that includes penalties, said Jeff English

The head of S.C. Trooper Association plans to travel Wednesday to Washington to put the brakes on a move to allow larger, heavier trucks on the nation's highways. David Latimer, executive director of the Troopers Association, said he strongly opposes any increases to truck sizes or weights because of the safety threat. South Carolina had more than 2,300 collisions involving large trucks in 2012, and 82 people were killed. Congress is debating whether to allow bigger trucks as it works o

By BARBARA WALLACE WOODLAND, Calif. (CN) - A man was buried alive in grain for five hours while unloading grain from a silo, he claims in court. Hector Sanchez sued Adams Grain Company and the Adams Group, in Yolo County Superior Court. Sanchez was an employee of nonparty T & T Marketing Services, which was providing labor services to Adams Grain and Adams Group when the accident happened, according to the 14-page lawsuit. Sanchez "was instructed to enter the grain silo and

Renee Bernard VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – Some trucking companies are hoping to deal with the shortage of drivers by hiring temporary foreign workers. But a BC labour leader says that’s not the way to address a shortage of drivers. The trucking industry expects to lose 20 per cent of the work force due to retirement over the next ten years, and some are hoping driving will be designated a skilled trade, to make it easier to hire foreign workers. But Jim Sinclair with the BC Federation of

A rule proposed under the Food Safety Modernization Act regarding animal feed would unnecessarily limit the centuries-old practice of beer brewers donating or selling their spent grain to farmers and ranchers by classifying them as feed producers, contend the Beer Institute, American Malting Barley Association, the National Milk Producers Federation, and other stakeholders. Animal feed rule would limit grain donation "Brewers' spent grain exists as a natural and necessary result of the brewing

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — A Minnesota mandate that most diesel fuel sold in warm-weather months be a blend containing 10 percent biodiesel faces an uncertain future. Minnesota currently requires a year-round 5 percent blend known as B5 for most diesel sales. The B10 mandate is to begin in July, and then rise to 20 percent by next year. But there have been delays as state officials worked to ensure adequate supplies and set up regulatory protocols. Those delays might continue, the Mankato Free

Grain shippers in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States are getting poor rail service and it’s about to get a whole lot worse, says a transportation consultant. Terry Whiteside co-authored a report for the Western Organization of Resource Councils that forecasts a massive increase in coal and oil shipments on railways in the region. The report, Heavy Traffic Still Ahead, forecasts 74 to 99 million tonnes of coal exports by 2018. “That’s all new tonnes,” said Whiteside. To

Ottawa's decision to implement new regulations on grain shipments by rail is aimed at improving service for Canadian farmers. But the new rules may have another unintended beneficiary: billionaire Warren Buffett. The federal government has proposed a series of changes to the way railways are allowed to operate in Western Canada in legislation it tabled last week. Among the changes in the Fair Rail For Grain Farmers Act is a proposal to extend the distances for the country's interswitching pr

http://www.truckinginfo.com/ A new report shows business conditions in the trucking industry remain positive, despite a slight downturn, amid caution of a possible capacity shortage. The Trucking Conditions Index reading of 7.54 for February continues to reflect good news for trucking fleets, but is also a warning to shippers seeking carriers to move their goods, according to the freight forecasting firm FTR. It notes the severe winter weather likely had a bigger impact and is not getti

By Sara Hooker, Daily Herald Business Ledger Writer Thursday, April 03, 2014 9:30 AM NAPERVILLE -- Saying it’s an “imminent hazard to public safety,” federal regulators shut down the trucking company responsible for a semi involved in a crash in late January that killed a tollway worker and seriously injured a state trooper. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration ordered Naperville-based DND International to pull all trucks off the highways until further notice, according to a re

By Mitch Smith and Kim Geiger Tribune reporters 7:03 p.m. CDT, April 2, 2014 Federal regulators have ordered a Naperville trucking company off the road, calling the carrier with a history of serious safety violations an "imminent hazard to public safety." The inquiry into DND International started after trucker Renato Velasquez was charged with breaking transport rules and causing a fiery January wreck that killed an Illinois Tollway worker and injured a state trooper, who remains in int

EMPORIA, Va. (WTVR) – The manager of Simmons Travel Plaza off Interstate 95 near the Virginia-North Carolina line said he’s never seen anything like it. A truck driver pulled up to the pumps Sunday night, spent 25 minutes filling multiple fuel tanks and then drove off without paying. The bill? More than $1,500 for 414 gallons of fuel. The truck, which was not hauling a trailer, was described as Freightliner Cascadia or Colombia with a moose grill on the front. The back wheels had black inser

The DOT says all drivers must now have their exams performed by a certified medical examiner of DOT physicals. "The one big change is that they won't be able just to go to any provider, they'll have to find a provider that is certified and there is a list on the national registry website where drivers can use a simple Google search function to find providers in the area," says medical examiner, Andrea Malucky. One of the main reasons for some of the changes that are happening is because

By: Katherine Grandstrand, Forum News Service HEBRON, N.D. — Before there were barrels and barrels of oil coming out of North Dakota, there were amber waves of grain covering the prairie. A new elevator in this west Morton County town has found a way to marry North Dakota’s two biggest industries. After its first full year of business in an agriculture-based community, Archer Daniels Midland Co. has found an oil field niche at its Hebron grain elevator. Not only does it take wheat, s

Farmers unable to move crops this winter have had plenty of time to notice the difference between what grain companies are paying in the country and selling for off the West Coast. “Our calculations demonstrate the grain companies have taken over $1.6 billion in excess profits from wheat alone so far this crop year,” said CWBA spokesman and former Canadian Wheat Board director Kyle Korneychuk last week. University of Saskatchewan agricultural economist Richard Gray independently reached a

Todd Dills http://www.overdriveonline.com/ Over the past several years, James Lamb, a former DOT investigator, current head of DOTAuthority.com and self-described “volunteer president” of the small-broker advocacy group/business league AIPBA, has been outspoken on the increased broker bond (now at a $75K minimum for all registered freight brokers and forwarders). At times, his thoughts on the bond, which he opposes as a one-size-fits-all requirement, have seemed designed to drive a wedge betw

http://www.truckinginfo.com/ Newly published results from a survey conducted by the trucking consultancy group Transport Capital Partners show increased optimism among trucking executives when it comes to higher freight rates and volumes. Reflecting a better outlook for the economy at large, coupled with counter seasonal capacity shortages, more and more carriers expect volume increases over the next 12 months. Volume expectations grew from 44% in 4th quarter 2013 to 77% in the first quart

Producers hauling grain long distances due to limited rail capacity at terminals Reported by Aaron Stuckel Just a day after the federal government tabled legislation to change the Fair Rail for Grain Farmers Act, truckers hauling crops to a terminal near Balgonie said they still aren’t seeing enough train cars opened up to get grain moving. The Saskatchewan Government says Ottawa isn't going far enough to get the grain moving on the rails. Rail companies argue the new legislation forcing

Coyote gets bigger. Will the small get smaller? By Mark B. Solomon Those waiting for the consolidation needle to be moved in the deeply fragmented U.S. truck brokerage field need not wait any longer. On March 18, Chicago-based Coyote Logistics LLC acquired rival Access America Transport (AAT) in what is viewed as a significant first step towards concentrating the $50 billion-a-year brokerage industry into the hands of fewer players. Terms of the transaction were not publicly disclosed.

John Stearns Reporter- Wichita Business Journal Bartlett Grain Co. LP is building new offices and truck scales and improving its truck-line procedures at its Wichita truck dump in north Wichita. The $200,000 project at 3311 N. Emporia St., designed to increase efficiency at the facility, is expected to be completed in May, before the June wheat harvest, the company says. Other work includes a new grain-sampling and grading station. Wheat brought to the site is shipped to flour millers, p

By Sean Broderick, CHS With March Madness upon us, and spring hopefully not too far past that, a look back at the last month can be summarized with one word: Logistics. Railroads encountered a myriad of shipment problems due to cold, snow and overcapacity. This has been an ongoing issue west of the Mississippi but the weather really had a severe impact on the Chicago gateway and the rail lines leading to the East Coast. A lot of the ethanol had been heading east from the Midwest plants and

By Don Cazentre | [email protected] It seems to be a perfect match. Brewers need a way to dispose of the wet and mushy grains that are a byproduct of making beer. Farmers are looking for inexpensive but healthful feed for their livestock. So breweries across the country -- including those here in Central New York -- donate their used grains to local farmers. It's free: The farmers just stop by the breweries and cart the stuff away, usually in large plastic containers. It's a cl

Tom Burfield While truck availability might be tight at times in some parts of the U.S. this spring and summer, shippers generally should be able to secure transportation for their loads, but at a higher price than last year, industry experts say. “I don’t see a cliff that we’re about to go over on the horizon,” said Doug Stoiber, vice president, produce transportation operations for L&M Transportation Services, Raleigh, N.C. “Trucking companies are managing to get qualified people in, get th

BARNESVILLE, Minn. – The grain elevators at Agassiz Valley Grain here are overflowing with corn and soybeans and waiting for trains to haul the grain away. Don’t bother checking a schedule, though. No one knows exactly when the trains are coming. By: Dan Gunderson, MPR News 90.3 FM, INFORUM BARNESVILLE, Minn. – The grain elevators at Agassiz Valley Grain here are overflowing with corn and soybeans and waiting for trains to haul the grain away. Don’t bother checking a schedule, though. No

Strategic Sourceror Improved road transportation tonnage shows that the United States is on a path toward recovery after a brutal winter left many drivers stuck at distribution centers. Over the arduous three-month period, managed IT services were often consulted by third-party logistics providers requiring real-time data of all assets in an attempt to figure out how they should transport materials in the adverse weather conditions. Though still consulting with those professionals, many distr

The snarl-ups in North America's rail network blamed on the cold winter have prompted agriculture groups to turn to road for crop transport, fuelling a doubling in trucking charges. Legumex Walker, the Canada-based oilseeds processing group, said it had overcome both "challenges" in its outbound transport and threats to its inward supplies of seed for crushing by turning to trucks. The first seed deliveries made under a programme for truck deliveries "have started arriving" at the group's

Nixa, MO (PRWEB) March 25, 2014 Several news sources have reported in recent weeks that BNSF railway operations in North Dakota are at least three weeks delayed (http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/bnsf-pledges-caught-ag-shipments-22885754). While BNSF President and CEO, Carol Ice, has said the delays are not a result of increased crude-by-rail shipments, other sources are skeptical and report agricultural shipments are suffering the most (http://www.star-telegram.com/2014/03/18/5659053/bnsf-c

Evan Weese Staff reporter- Columbus Business First The state’s municipalities are unable to levy income taxes on trucking companies, the Ohio Supreme Court affirmed last week in a win for the industry. Maintaining the status quo - exempting motor-transportation companies from municipal income tax - helps to avoid a major shakeup, said Marc Blubaugh, a transportation and logistics attorney with Benesch Friedlander Coplan & Aronoff LLP in Columbus. “If this had gone the other way, it’s hard

By: Mark Koba | Senior Editor, CNBC It's not easy being a farmer in the U.S. these days and it's bound to get harder, say those who should know. "There's a growing discontent among the farming community," said John Kempf, a fruit and vegetable farmer in northeast Ohio. "We have a farming model now that is antagonistic to the enjoyment of watching seeds grow and seeing a new born animal," said the 26-year-old Kempf, who is chief executive of Advancing Eco Agriculture, a farming and crop n

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. - Two men were sentenced in federal court on Thursday for their roles in a $2 million scheme to defraud Cargill by creating fictitious scale tickets for loads of corn that were paid for but never actually delivered to the company’s feed mill in Butterfield. Bob Beisly III, 40, of Nevada, and Ronald Bunn, 45, of Deerfield, were sentenced in separate appearances before U.S. District Judge Gary Fenner. Beisly was sentenced to two years and 11 months in federal prison without p

BY TONY RIZZO The Kansas City Star The road is long and the country is big. And on any given day an estimated 3 million over-the-road truckers are traversing the nation’s highways. When one of those truckers turns up missing, finding them can be like looking for the proverbial needle in a haystack. “It’s a challenge because of the nature of their job they could be just about anywhere,” said Norita Taylor, spokeswoman for the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association. That’s

Prosecutors say a trucking company staffer stole more than $6 million from the northern New Jersey firm, money he used to fund a lavish lifestyle. Albert Thomson is charged with theft by deception for the scam he allegedly ran from January 2004 through November 2013. His bail was set at $250,000 and it was not known Saturday if he had retained a lawyer. The 48-year-old Berkeley Heights man worked for New England Motor Freight, which is based in Elizabeth. His duties involved obtaining regi

http://www.theindependent.com/news/state/southeast-nebraska-grain-elevator-worker-killed/article_9187d218-6a7c-5486-a310-d7e16810768e.html View Original Article

ANN ARBOR, MI — Con-way Freight is the latest less-than-truckload (LTL) carrier to announce it’s increasing rates. Come March 31, the company will raise its general rate by about 5.4 percent, which will be applicable to non-contractual business. The rate increase will apply to general LTL rates, minimum charges and accessorial or supplemental fees for special services associated with LTL shipments moving within the U.S. and Canada, as well as cross-border shipments moving between the U.S.,

by Joe Chitwood - 3/19/2014 The Lansing Trade Group seeks more than $22 million from the ethanol plants, which are located near the small Nebraska towns of Madrid and Cambridge. A jury of six men and six women are considering the evidence. District Judge Donald E. Rowlands is presiding. The trial is expected to last up to two weeks. The dispute began in 2008, during a time when corn prices fluctuated wildly. The price skyrocketed to nearly $8 a bushel during the summer. But after the e

Private grain companies have raked in more than $1.6 billion in excess profits since last summer from the sale of wheat, according to a farm group that opposed the federally imposed switch to an open-market system for selling wheat and barley. "We followed the money," Canadian Wheat Board Alliance (CWBA) spokesman Kyle Korneychuk said in a news release Tuesday. "In fact, the farmers' share of the international price of grain has gone down from 84 per cent under our single-desk Canadian Wheat B

The Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) passed in 2011, but its rules won’t be in place until mid-2015. Ostensibly, FSMA offered a paradigm shift in the food safety sector, preventing contamination instead of only responding to it. Part of the legislation applies to handling animal feed. The Food and Drug Administration has a proposed rule under comment until March 31st, which would address regulatory gaps on producing safe animal feed, as well as addressing hazards at facilities that handle i

By: WJAC Web Staff WOODLAND, Pa. -- The former owners of a Clearfield County trucking company are being accused of deceiving their employees. Timothy and David Kephart are facing civil action from the United States Department of Labor. Money that was deducted from nearly 100 employee paychecks was supposed to be deposited into 401(k) accounts and go toward health insurance never made it, authorities said. The Department of Labor found more than $270,000 in contributions had been misappropriat

U.S. farm co-operative CHS Inc. has signed a deal to buy 16 retail locations in Canada from Agrium Inc., St. Paul, Minn.-based CHS said in a press release Monday. Financial terms of the transaction, expected to be completed April 1, were not disclosed. CHS said the locations, nine of which are in Alberta and seven in Saskatchewan, will become part of its country operations division. The locations will be able to take advantage of a new fertilizer plant outside Shelby, Mont., the company said.

By Doug Robinson, Deseret News You know how you can recognize some veteran long-haul truckers? By the wrinkles and the skin cancers on the left side of their bodies — specifically, the left arm, hand and face. That's because they've been baked by the sun through the window during thousands of miles spent on the road. This is to say nothing of the things going wrong inside their bodies that can’t be seen. Long-haul truckers are a dying breed. Literally. Their average age is reporte

J.D. Heiskell & Company (JDHCo) and Kent Nutrition Group (KNG) have finalized an agreement for JDHCo to purchase KNG’s ownership in their joint venture, Gold Star Feed & Grain, LLC. As part of the deal, JDHCo became sole owner and operator of Gold Star Feed & Grain effective March 17. Gold Star Feed & Grain currently operates prior KNG mills located in Adams Center, N.Y.; Augusta, Maine, and Sangerfield, N.Y. This change is not expected to impact customers of Gold Star Feed & Grain. “Gold

by Brian Straight in Trucking Straight Talk A new law that took effect last week in New York State could mean significant financial penalties and/or jail for companies that knowingly misclassify employee-drivers as contractors. According to the text, the law is designed to ensure drivers, particularly those who work for companies such as FedEx and UPS and port truckers, are properly classified as employees of the company where appropriate. The bill, passed last summer, adds article 25-C

By SAMANTHA VICENT World Staff Writer Tulsa firefighters and EMSA personnel responded to a fire that destroyed an abandoned feed mill Saturday afternoon. Around 1:35 p.m., multiple fire crews responded to 5531 E. Admiral Place and arrived to see the Booster Feed Mill on fire, District Chief Andy Teeter said. The building has been abandoned for years, and firefighters were unable to fight the blaze from the inside because of the structure's age and type of construction, he said. "The heavy

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Spring truck weight restrictions on state highways began on March 14 for Minnesota's South, Southeast and Metro area frost zones, according to the Minnesota Department of Transportation. MnDOT limits truck weights to prevent damage to roads weakened during the spring thaw. Road restriction maps showing the locations of weight restricted routes and state highways open to maximum 10-ton axle weights are listed at www.dot.state.mn.us/materials. Click on "Seasonal Load Limits," and then "Spr

By John O’Connell Capital Press General Mills has sold its Idaho grain operations to Agspring, based in Kansas City, Ks. Officials with a company that is buying all of General Mills’ Idaho grain operations say they intend to increase storage and handling capacity of the elevators. Agspring, LLC, of Kansas City, Kan., intends to complete the transaction by May, purchasing General Mills grain elevators in Pocatello, Rockford, American Falls, Newdale, Blackfoot, and Idaho Falls, as well

By Jeff Plungis http://www.bloomberg.com/ The U.S. Transportation Department said it will require truck drivers to track their work hours electronically, eliminating paper logbooks that have been ridiculed as outdated and ineffective. Electronic logbooks would lead to efficiencies, both for trucking companies and regulators who check the data during roadside inspections to make sure drivers are adhering to federal time limits, the agency said in a statement today. The proposed regulatio

Article by: JAMES MACPHERSON , Associated Press BISMARCK, N.D. — Farm commodity rail shipments are running nearly three weeks behind in North Dakota, but BNSF Railway Co. has promised to get caught up before summer, the state's U.S. senators said Wednesday. Republican Sen. John Hoeven and Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, a Democrat, said they met with BNSF CEO Carl Ice on Tuesday to express concerns about delays in agricultural shipments and overall rail safety. The state's congressional delegation,

Jessica Graham [email protected] COMMERCE — Early Thursday morning a Missouri UPS Ground Freight truck driver missed a stop sign near Commerce when an oncoming car impaired his vision with their high beams. According to the Commerce Police Department accident report by the truck driver, identified as Michael Fisher from Independence, Mo., said he was coming back from Muskogee in route to Kansas City to his terminal, which is the same route he has taken for three years. Fish

By Adrian Gonzalez A couple of years ago, I was a victim of identity theft. Someone filed a false tax return using my Social Security number and made off with a refund check. When I tried to file my tax return electronically, the IRS rejected it because “a return with that Social Security number has already been filed,” so I had to file a paper return and wait almost a year to get the situation cleared up and get my refund. Identity theft (and more broadly, cyber-terrorism) is a growing pr

By Chris Hubbuchchris La Crosse Tribune North Dakota grain isn't the only commodity that has been tied up by a harsh winter and a boom in oil production. For the past three weeks, an average of 30 trucks per day have been hauling coal 75 miles from Genoa to Alma in order to keep the fires burning at Dairyland Power Cooperative's generating plant there. The reason: The La Crosse-based company missed nearly two weeks of coal train deliveries. Dairyland burns 1.2 to 1.4 million tons of

Tony Herrman, March 12, 2014 [email protected] - See more at: http://www.hastingstribune.com/march/news0312grainbinfatal.php#sthash.wH9k8RQB.dpuf EDGAR — The man who died in a grain bin accident near here Tuesday was engaging in a routine activity when he was killed, according to Clay County Sheriff Jeff Franklin. Alan Watson, 66, of rural Fairfield was inside of a metal grain bin at 1012 N. C St., Tuesday morning that Franklin estimated to be 1 1/2 stories high, 12 feet in di

Byrd: Industry Must Pull Together Like a Family By Deborah Lockridge http://www.truckinginfo.com/ TMC, NASHVILLE – Trucking. It's complex, highly technological, and essential to the nation's economy. That was the theme of Phil Byrd, chairman of American Trucking Associations and president and CEO of Bulldog Hiway Express, speaking Tuesday at ATA’s Technology & Maintenance Council’s 2014 Annual Meeting. Byrd said while some people may think trucking is as simple as getting a truck and s

by Ron Sterk Parts of the agricultural sector are experiencing the worst logistics problems in memory. Many in the trade, while acknowledging the impact of record crop production in Canada and the United States, strong exports and the most severe winter weather in years, are pointing fingers at increased competition for locomotives and engineers as railroads move huge volumes of shale oil from the Upper Midwest at the implied expense of grain, oilseeds, sugar and other agricultural products.

Denise Lockwood Reporter- Milwaukee Business Journal Schneider National Inc., a Green Bay-based operator of truckload carriers in North America, is hiring 75 professional truck drivers to haul Harley-Davidson's engines and parts from motorcycle plants in Missouri, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania to various locations in the United States. The jobs pay up to $80,000 for drivers in Kansas City, Mo.; Menomonee Falls; and York, Pa. The company is also offering sign-on bonuses of $7,000 for teams and

The Trucker News Services 3/5/2014 HARTFORD, Conn. — In Connecticut, they don’t take violating the Hours of Service rule lightly. Last month, Dariusz Szteborowski, manager of the New Britain, Conn.-based Wisla Express, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Alvin W. Thompson in Hartford to 14 months of imprisonment followed by three years of supervised release for falsifying and destroying driver records that are required to be maintained under federal motor carrier safety regulations for ins

LawFuel Editors / March 10, 2014 Accidents involving semi-trucks are often catastrophic. The size and weight of the vehicle causes significant, if not fatal, damage to the other vehicle. In fact, one out of every eight truck accidents involves at least one fatality. What is the leading cause of these tragic accidents? Over-tired or fatigued drivers, that’s what. These professional drivers spend long hours each day on the road, and when they become too tired to drive they can’t operate the veh

Business owners are abandoning logistics agent programs in 2014, by CarrierDirect Armstrong & Associates, a third party logistics (3PL) consultancy firm, projected that the US Logistics sector was the fastest growing part of the Transportation industry and was forecasted to total over $150 billion in 2013, accelerating at a rate twice that of the nation’s GDP growth. The extraordinary size and growth of the industry attracts a wide range of professionals and entrepreneurs, some of whom hav

The Columbus Dispatch A South Side company has backed off plans to process fracking waste. Ohio Soil Recycling had planned by last November to begin recycling crushed rock and shale (called cuttings) brought to its Integrity Drive facility by fracking companies operating in eastern Ohio. But the drilling companies are unwilling to pay trucking and processing costs, according to Ohio Soil officials. The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency approved Ohio Soil Recycling’s plan in Augus

by KGW.com Staff TUALATIN -- Southwest Tualatin-Sherwood Road at Southwest Nyberg Road was closed after steel beams slipped, pierced the back of a semi-truck's cab and went through the front window Wednesday afternoon. "I was very lucky," said Truck driver Jack Phillips. "If you look into the cab the only thing that's not crumbled is my seat and steering wheel." Phillips said he was cut off by another driver and instinctively hit the brakes, causing the 30,000 pounds of steel beams in

Written by Kelvin Heppner Farmers close to the US border are trying to truck more grain south as a result of the rail bottleneck in Western Canada. "There's a lot of grain moving south right now. It's probably more than people realize," says Brian Voth, vice-president of Agri-Trend Marketing. "Anybody that's within 60, even 80 miles of the border, it makes sense to be doing this when you look at basis levels and the fact they can take grain within three to four weeks from contracting, rath