Bulk Freight News & Industry Updates - Stay Ahead in Trucking

By Jennifer Tapley CANTON, Mo. (WGEM) - While this year's drought dealt a heavy blow to area farmers, it also helped speed along the process of a new grain elevator in Lewis County. Friday is the official grand opening of Ursa Farmers Coop Canton Grain Elevator. Roger Hugenberg, Assistant General Manager of the Ursa Farmers Coop says the operation here brings speed, and is more attractive to farmers to bring their corn, soybeans, and wheat loads here. "They got bigger combines. Th

by Anne Meyer | KWCH 12 Eyewitness News (WICHITA, Kan.) — Remember the Wichita driver who got ticketed for having christmas lights on his truck. Thursday morning officers pulled Dave Hill over again, despite his efforts to comply with Kansas law After he was pulled over Saturday, Hill switched out the red, blue and green lights with colors he thought were legal. "We went with white and amber, the only lights that are allowed on the front," Hill said. "We changed everything out it took

Prairie crop growers relying on the rails to get their wares past Canada's geography are hailing federal legislation tabled Tuesday, which, if needed, would enforce levels of service between rail freight shippers and railways. Bill C-52, the Fair Rail Freight Service Act, would give companies shipping goods by rail the right to set up a service agreement with railways, and provide for an arbitration process to set up such an agreement where commercial negotiations can't. Farmers and proce

u Dec 13, 2012 2:44 PM BUFFALO, N.Y. — Authorities say an FBI agent has been charged with public lewdness after a trucker told state troopers that the man made lewd gestures toward him while not wearing pants and driving on the Thruway outside Buffalo. State police tell local media outlets that Special Agent John Yervelli of the FBI’s Buffalo office was charged late Friday night after a trooper pulled over his minivan at a toll plaza just south of the city. Officials say a truck driver t

Most carriers in ‘parked mode’ while waiting on ‘fiscal cliff,’ says TCP report The Trucker News Services 12/13/2012 CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — The recent presidential election may have been close in terms of the popular vote, but the reaction to the outcome among motor carrier executives wasn’t. Results from Transport Capital Partners’ (TCP) Fourth Quarter 2012 Business Expectations found that a vast majority of carriers are not happy with the outcome of the presidential election. While Obama

A trucker was arrested Tuesday morning after he was allegedly found intoxicated while stopping at the weigh station near Rocker. Milko Angelov, 43, of Illinois, pulled into the weigh station in his tractor trailer to have his load weighed about 11:30 a.m. A Department of Transportation worker at the station allegedly noticed the smell of alcohol coming from Angelov. The worker gave Angelov an alcohol breath test, which allegedly registered positive for alcohol. Butte police were contacted

Todd Dills Take a moment with me and welcome Second Wind Transport owner-operator Greg Trott to the Channel 19 halls. You may know him already: The independent’s been at it here since 2007, after nearly two decades running first a floor-refinishing business (from the 1990s, inherited from his father), then a trucking and home maintenance small business (begun in 2002) in Bermuda. He got his own authority in July of this year and has found rates on brokered reefer freight shall we say less th

Spot freight rose 3.6% in the U.S. and Canada November over October, according to the DAT North American Freight Index -- the first time November freight volumes outpaced October levels since the DAT Freight Index was established in 1996. Some of the increase can be attributed to demand for vans and refrigerated trucks for disaster relief and re-stocking after Hurricane Sandy. The increase in U.S. freight availability was partly offset by a seasonal decline in freight from Canada. Yea

The Oklahoma City bomb squad is on the scene after two pipe bombs were found attached to a trucking company vehicle on the city's southwest side Monday afternoon, police said. The bombs were destroyed at the scene and no one was hurt. Two pipe bombs were found Monday attached to a vehicle's gas tank at a trucking company on the city's southwest side, police said. The devices were discovered about 4:50 p.m. at Magerus Trucking Co., 3809 SW 29, by an employee, Sgt. Tyara Nash said. The devi

by Sean Kilcarr in Trucks at Work What should of course be a time of merriment and well wishes is turning into a very stressful period in terms of economic forecasting as Obama administration and Congress continue to wrangle over solutions to the fiscal cliff. It doesn’t help matters that a range of economic experts are ramping up warnings about the consequences if no deal materializes. From a freight perspective, the risks of going over the cliff are pretty straightforward: if no deal

The U.S. is importing the most ethanol in four years after the country’s worst drought in a half century drove corn prices to a record, boosting demand for tankers hauling the fuel. Imports almost tripled in the third quarter from a year ago after domestic output slumped for the first time in 16 years, Energy Department data show. Almost all the extra supply is being shipped by Brazilian refiners, who use sugar as a feedstock. Shares of Odfjell SE (ODF), the world’s second-biggest operator o

STRAFFORD, Mo. -- New camera technology gives truck drivers an extra set of eyes on the road. Semi trucks might seem big and imposing on the interstate, and many commuters might blame the trucker in case of an accident. Along I-44 in Strafford Missouri, 18-wheeled trucks pulled in and out of the TA truck stop every minute. Scott Tibbles watched the scene, his first experience of the US trucking industry. "It seems to be a much bigger industry here, and very different as well," Tibbles sa

Migl Feed and Grain, an agricultural supply company located in Hallettsville, TX, will join the J. R. Simplot Co.'s Grower Solutions network. "Our goal at Simplot Grower Solutions is to continue to grow our business by expanding our reach in strategic areas such as the Texas Gulf Coast as we focus on meeting customer needs," said Dave Dufault, head of Simplot Grower Solutions retail stores. "Migl fits in very well." "We felt that Simplot Grower Solutions was the best fit for our community

Richard Alleyne, The Daily Telegraph A former soldier who was so fascinated by the TV series Ice Road Truckers that he flew to Canada to become one died when his giant rig careered off a frozen highway featured in the show. Brett Colley, 45, was killed when his truck came off one of the toughest roads in the world in sub-zero temperatures and plunged down an embankment. The former gunner had been driving his rig through the remote Pink Mountain region of Canada when the accident happened

By Tom Fontaine Published: Friday, December 7, 2012, 11:36 p.m. Updated 10 hours ago Federal investigators scrutinizing the company that employed a California trucker charged in a fatal Washington County crash might be chasing a shadow, police and trucking experts say. “There is some concern about this being a chameleon carrier. That’s what the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is trying to uncover,” said state police Lt. Ray Cook, director of the bureau’s Commercial Vehicle

The Trucker News Services 12/7/2012 WASHINGTON —- The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has ordered Ben Gordon Enterprises LLC d.b.a. Gordon's Tree Service of Slidell, La., to immediately cease all transportation services based on serious safety violations that pose an imminent hazard to public safety. The FMCSA shut down Ben Gordon Enterprises after a thorough investigation found the company had willfully violated a federal out-of-service order, continued to operate vehicles in

Douglas Cain made a big bet on the shale drilling industry in South Texas, and so far it seems to be paying off with a boom for his family’s longtime trucking company.? Since moving the company from Houston to San Antonio to get closer to the Eagle Ford Shale oil and gas play, Cain’s Lake Truck Lines Inc. has grown from 11 trucks to 67. The company opened a location in Odessa to serve the Permian Basin. And it’s started a new subsidiary, Lake Oilfield Services, to provide equipment such as t

What would you do if you chanced upon a surefooted baby walking alone down the highway? We've borne witness to some truly shocking videos emanating from Russia and countries from the old Eastern Bloc, but none holds a light to this latest dash-cam production that has just popped up on everyone's favorite video-sharing website. Looking out with the truck driver via his dash-mounted cam, all seems well in rural Russia. The sun is shining on a porcelain-blue sky, the road ahead is clear, and the t

SEVERAL Allora residents are not impressed with the level of dust and amount of noise created by the Grain X Australia facility but owner Chris Hood said the company was doing everything in its power to manage the situation. The unhappy residents, who did not want their names disclosed, all said the amount of dust was not acceptable. "I have to have my front door and windows closed so the dust doesn't get in," one resident said. "The dust is so fine it still gets through the fly screen

The Scoular Company is pleased to announce the construction of a two million bushel storage building in Perkins County. The new building is located between Grant and Ogallala at Scoular’s existing site known locally as “north Grant.” Scoular will use the new building to augment its current operation, doubling the north Grant site’s storage and unloading capacity to a respective four million bushels and 50,000 bushels per hour. “We’re pleased to further invest in our Nebraska operations to

In ten years, this company has multiplied its revenue 100 times. It hasn't posted a losing year in a decade. What's more, over the period shown, this company has made exactly zero acquisitions. All of the growth has been internally generated. The company is Autoinfo (AUTO.OB). Autoinfo is the corporate parent of Sunteck, the eighth largest truck freight broker in the United States. Sunteck is a non-asset-based broker, meaning it doesn't own the trucks - it just provides the logistics. Tru

* Barges not offered in central Midwest mid-Dec. to March * Severe river restrictions, possible closure expected * Grain exporters move supplies via rail at higher costs By Karl Plume Dec 5 (Reuters) - Some freight companies have pulled their barges from the mid-Mississippi and Illinois Rivers until March as low water after a severe drought disrupted business during the peak of the grain export season, industry sources said on Wednesday. Some grain terminals along the Mississippi

* FAO food price index falls 3 points to 211 points in Nov * FAO trims cereals output forecast for 2012, sees tight stock levels * Price volatility set to continue-FAO senior economist (Adds senior economist quotes, detail, background) By Catherine Hornby ROME, Dec 6 (Reuters) - Global food markets face further volatility in 2013 as stocks and supply of key cereals have tightened, the United Nations food agency said on Thursday, even as world food prices fell for a second month in N

The investors in the dry bulk industry are desperately waiting for the time when the industry will finally display a turnaround. For once, they felt that the miseries of this industry were over when the Baltic Dry Bulk Index (BDI) rallied for continuous 27 days (from 27th September to 23rd October) and showed a gain of 45% in such a short span of time. However, unfortunately, that was not the bottom in the dry bulk industry. Most of the investors tend to forget that China, always, accumulates s

In November, Colorado and Washington voters approved a bill that would legalize recreational use of marijuana. Apparently, many truck drivers have questioned the DOT regarding the legalization and its impact on DOT drug testing. The DOT has responded that while it may be legal for those who are not operating commercial vehicles, marijuana use will still be prohibited for CDL holders. Official DOT Statement: We have had several inquiries about whether these state initiatives will have an

LITCHFIELD, Ill. (AP) -- The federal government has ordered a Georgia-licensed trucker whose tractor-trailer struck and killed an Illinois State Police trooper making a freeway traffic stop to stop commercial driving. The U.S. Department of Transportation issued a statement saying it has declared Johnny Felton Jr. an imminent hazard because he failed to exercise appropriate care regarding his medical conditions. The statement didn't identify those conditions. When reached Tuesday by telephone

Mon, 12/03/2012 - 5:50pm | The News-Gazette CHAMPAIGN— The Andersons Inc. announced on Monday it has completed the purchase of most of the grain and agronomy assets of Green Plains Grain Co. The Andersons, based in Maumee, Ohio, already has grain terminals in Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Nebraska. Locally, it has grain handling and storage facilities in Champaign and Mansfield. The purchase includes seven facilities in Iowa and five in Tennessee. The added facilities have a co

By Steven Johnson | ECT Staff Writer Published: December 3rd, 2012 Did investment behemoth Berkshire Hathaway act illegally when it acquired BNSF Railway Co. in 2010? That’s what coal shippers contend, and they want federal regulators to take steps they say would even out an imbalance between the railroad and its customers. “The law is clear that BNSF cannot ‘retain the fruits of its unlawful conduct,’” according to a filing by a coalition that includes NRECA and Basin Electric Power

NSW Roads and Maritime Services (RMS) director of customer and compliance Peter Wells has issued a reminder to the transport industry to check loads before heading out on to the road network. “We know the majority of the industry does the right thing and works professionally to both secure their loads properly and also to make sure they are not more than 4.3 metres high for general truck access,” Mr Wells said. “While most people are doing the right thing, the number of overheight truck i

WASHINGTON — The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has issued an imminent hazard operations out-of-service order to an Illinois trucking company the agency said had “engaged in and continues to engage in a pattern and practice of blatantly ignoring and/or violating significant provisions of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations.” The order, issued Nov. 23 to C & D Transportation of Elk Grove Village, Ill., said the carrier had “willingly violated an out-of-service order and co

While authorities have pegged thick Texas fog as the main culprit in the 140-car Thanksgiving pileup on I-10 just southwest of Beaumont, big rig truckers posting on Internet message boards suggest that civilian and professional drivers maintaining potentially reckless speeds, despite the conditions, may have been another major contributing factor. Crowded with motorists and tractor trailers, the I-10 phalanx was moving at near 70 miles per hour despite the pea soup fog that rolled in, author

AVALON — A large natural gas pipeline, a railcar full of anhydrous ammonia and hundreds of thousands of bushels of corn could have added up to a serious fire. Instead, firefighters and railroad employees were able to move the railcar of anhydrous ammonia and keep flames away from the gas line and stored corn during a fire Tuesday night at Gavilon Grain, 9231 E. Avalon Road in Avalon. No damage estimates were available Wednesday, and the cause of the fire remained under investigation. T

With all the lottery madness going on, we thought we’s share a heartwarming story about a truck driver and two-time lottery winner with you. Bill Morgan is one lucky man. Morgan was severely injured in a truck accident. At the hospital, he was given medication that damaged his heart. 37-year-old Morgan fell into a coma. Doctors advised his family to turn off life support. Miraculously, Morgan woke up and made a full recovery. Some time later, Morgan won a scratchers jackpot. When th

By RUSSELL ANGLIN AMARILLO GLOBE-NEWS AMARILLO — The father of an Amarillo woman who was killed after falling through a hole in an east Amarillo grain elevator has filed a lawsuit against the elevator’s owner, Wilburn Edwin Axe, court records said. Kelsey Tortoreo, 20, fell 80 feet to her death through a hole in the easternmost building of the Garvey Grain Elevator, 2400 N.E. Third Ave., in May 2011. The lawsuit, filed Nov. 21 by Tom Tortoreo, names Axe and Amarillo Grain Terminal as de

BULLSKIN TWP. — State police are investigating the theft of more than $8,000 from a trucking business that was stolen through a virus contained in an email. View Original Article

“Weighing” the Pros and Cons For 30 + years trucking on US Roadways has meant an 80,000 lb max load weight. Permits are available on a case by case basis for both weight and height but those are exceptions. In Canada the max weight limit is 95,000 lbs, Europe 97,000 and Mexico 106,000. While the trucking industry is opposed for logical reasons which include: Decrease in shipping costs, Combat new HOS and increase in infrastructure costs. Shippers are interested due to the increase in c

The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation and the commonwealth's Department of Environmental Protection are intensifying efforts to stop trucks from bringing overweight loads to Pennsylvania landfills. DEP released the followin message to landfills: We are having problems with overweight trucks coming in from New York and New Jersey. We are working with the authorities in those states to correct this problem, and they are helping us do that. "As DEP's part of the effort to stop ove

GIRARD - A truck driver apologized to a judge before he was sentenced to 90 days of electronically monitored house arrest and fined $500 Monday. Eugene White, 65, pleaded no contest in October to three counts of vehicular homicide in a 2010 crash on Interstate 80 in Hubbard Township that killed a Warren woman and her siblings. White, of Shilo, also was placed on five years' probation and had his driver's license suspended for the same period. His semi rear-ended a 2007 Ford Explorer on

The News-Gazette, Champaign-Urbana, Ill. McClatchy-Tribune Information Services Nov. 26--TUSCOLA -- Cargill's grain elevator in Tuscola is adding a loop railroad track to give it access to the CSX railroad, the company recently announced. The elevator already has access to the Canadian National and Union Pacific rail lines. Connecting with the CSX line will give the elevator the ability to ship to markets in the East and Southeast, as well as the Gulf of Mexico. As a result, local farmers w

I thought this was an interesting little piece about driverless trucks operating in an Australian mine. We’re in the middle of yet another technological revolution and as always, some will win and some will lose from this. I have a feeling that the biggest losers of this particular part of it will be unions like the Teamsters: although not without a very large fight, probably lasting decades, about it. Mining company Rio Tinto has turned to driverless trucks to operate mines in Western Austr

Flames burned and smoke rose off the foundation of a wood grain elevator Friday evening after a blaze burned it to the ground at 2 a.m. While Adam Harpe scans through his brother's photos of the blaze, he's thankful his St. Marys business is still intact. "I was concerned with maybe if there was some smoke, depending on which way the wind was going, if it was getting inside the doors or anything like that,” says Harpe, who owns Premier Custom Baths downtown, “But I came down this morning and t

The mother of the Dallas trucker being detained in Mexico says Mexican officials have given little explanation for holding her 27-year-old son Jabin Akeem Bogan following completion of his seven-month prison sentence in Veracruz. On Nov. 20, Aletha Smith said Mexico’s immigration department immediately assumed custody of Bogan upon his release from prison five days earlier. Other than indicating the Demco Express driver was did not have proper documentation to be in the country, Mexican offic

The fall harvest in Southeast Missouri is wrapping up, but farmers' ability to ship their grain this winter remains in question. After battling an extreme drought and excessive heat all summer, fall rains put the harvest slightly behind schedule. This combination has left the Mississippi River's water levels dangerously low for barges, which carry 60 percent of the nation's grain exports. They may not be able to navigate the river once the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers begins reducing flow fr

COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) -- Prolonged drought is prompting some Midwest farmers to sell discarded corn stalks to feed hay-deprived cattle. The Columbia Missourian reports that area corn farmers are collecting stalks that usually are left in fields. The leftover stalks are known as corn stover. A market summary compiled by the Missouri Department of Agriculture shows that corn stover is selling in Missouri for $60 to $100 per ton, or $35 to $45 per large round bale. The state agency didn't track

Pity the grain trader? As if there is not enough grousing over US Department of Agriculture data – with trend corn yield estimates seen by many as unduly high, harvested acres ditto, and so on – it is not as if forecasts for these statistics from brokers comes without question marks. And that leaves the investor - dealing live when big USDA reports are released since Chicago extended trading hours earlier this year – with the task of not just comparing USDA estimates with expectations for

GRANDVIEW, Wash. -- If you ever get nervous driving past a semi-truck, a high-tech web of gadgets could keep you safe. You think your job is stressful? Try hauling a tractor-trailer across the state on little sleep. "I want to protect my life just as much as anyone else, so I'm going to make sure to take care of priority number one," says truck driver Chris Foster. Truckers like Foster are allowed on Washington roads for no more than 11 hours in a single day. At that point, a trucker n

WASHINGTON — Millions of bushels of Midwest corn are the lifeblood that feeds Lincolnway Energy’s thriving ethanol plant in north-central Iowa, but it is the highway of glistening steel rails and brown wooden ties snaking out of the facility that acts as the lifeline of the six-year-old business..... Read the full article by clicking here

DES MOINES — The Iowa Economic Development Authority Board on Friday awarded tax benefits to Grain Millers of St. Ansgar that will help in a $21.9 million expansion project. The project involves constructing a four-story facility, improving an existing processing line, adding a packaging line and purchasing equipment. The St. Ansgar-based company is a privately-held industrial and consumer ingredient processing company that sells products to major food companies in North America. The pr

THE ghosts of numerous controversial past trading deals are returning to haunt Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) in Australia as the US food giant continues its $2.7 billion play for GrainCorp. ADM recently confirmed possible violations to foreign bribery laws following a review of its own anti-corruption compliance program, initiated in 2008 and revealed to US and overseas regulators in 2009. The latest revelations follow a run of high profile penalties, including a prison sentences totalling mo

The U.S. Department of Labor has filed a lawsuit in federal court seeking to enforce a final decision and order issued to North Canton-based trucking company Star Air and owner Robert R. Custer for terminating two truck drivers in violation of the Surface Transportation Assistance Act's whistleblower provisions. The company has been ordered to pay $612,205. The Labor Department's Administrative Review Board issued a final decision to Star Air on Dec. 19, 2011, requiring the company to rein

To our north, where the lines on the map change from red or blue to grey or disappear entirely, there’s a whole world of trucking going on that hardly anyone knows about. It’s not the tame and safe world of EOBR- and ECM-controlled LCVs on four-lane highways. It’s a world where drivers and machines live on the edge — sometimes ­literally — in a barely-managed co-existence with nature, the elements and the terrain. Drivers push their trucks into places they’re not supposed to go, but go they d

Northwestern North Dakota is swamped by truck traffic and being a truck driver is not for the feint of heart. You have to put in long hours, and you need to be on the lookout for thousands of other drivers. This fall, more than 700 trucking companies have requested to start working in the state. The roads in oil country are filled with impatient and tired drivers. "A lot of the accidents I`ve seen out on the highways: people falling asleep, people passing where they shouldn`t be trying to

Efficiency is the name of the game at harvesttime, and having a semi truck and wagon adequately sized to move the right amount of grain for your operation is key. Agriculture.com Machinery Talk member Nebfarmer is considering getting a 10-wheel after struggling to keep up with his hauling demands this past year, and recently sought help. "I bought a super-cheap 6-wheeler last winter, and I still couldn't keep up hauling what I wanted to," he says. "I figured if I put the $1,000 to $3,000 I wi

Bio-fuel is a big trend in the transportation industry right now. Biodiesel makes it easy for trucking companies to institute big changes in their business practices because many engines can run on biodiesel with little to no modification. In most cases, bio-fuel does burn cleaner than its more widely used counterpart. There are advantages, especially in an industry like commercial trucking that uses a ton of gas. The thing is that people view biodiesel with so many happy little rainbows cloudin

WASHINGTON — Women have passed men on the nation's roads. More women than men now have driver's licenses, a reversal of a longtime gender gap behind the wheel that transportation researchers say is likely to have safety and economic implications. If current trends continue, the gap will only widen. The share of teens and young adults of both sexes with driver's licenses is declining, but the decline is greater for young men, according to a study by the University of Michigan's Transportation

David City, NE – Timpte, the industry leader in manufacturing bulk commodity trailers, is proud to announce the opening of a new Factory Direct Sales Branch Office in Sioux City, Iowa. The new Factory Direct Sales Branch Office is conveniently located at 4325 South York Street, Sioux City, IA 51106. The new location offers new and used grain trailers for sale, as well as over-the-counter parts and service. Timpte will now have the Northwest Iowa Sales Representative Kirk Martin based

Mississippi River shipping interests are warning that commercial traffic will grind to a halt in December because of a combination of slower Missouri River inflows and obstructions, and they’re urging that Congress take action. The requests come as the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers plans to gradually ease the flow of water out of its Gavins Point Dam in Yankton, S.D., a move aimed at preserving water levels in the drought-stricken reservoir system. Those restrictions, however, will lead to

Most commenters on Overdrive‘s Facebook page were not thrilled to hear news that incumbent Democratic President Barack Obama had been re-elected and were quite vocal on where they stood relative to the national political scene. Most cited concerns over the president’s economic policies in an already-shaky economy. Those who supported the president’s re-election piped in when asked if they right guy had won, though most simply said “Yes,” and did not elaborate much. In an Overdrive Hot Butt

The early years of the 21st century have brought with them an abundance of supply chain technology tools allowing companies to electronically communicate with more ease, speed, and efficiency than ever before. Now, if they can only work on the more traditional forms of interaction: such as the verbal kind. Over the past two years, four studies—two from Scranton, Pa.-based third-party logistics service provider (3PL) Kane Is Able; one from Raleigh, N.C.-based consultancy Tompkins Associates

Last week, four major trucking contractors—Los Angeles Harbor Grain Terminal, Pacheco Trucking, Perez Express Trucking and Franco Trucking—were named in a complaint presented to the Long Beach City Prosecutor's office. With charges filed in the Los Angeles Superior Court, the complaint alleges employees, officers and contractors within said trucking companies overloaded their trucks—some to the extent of exceeding the maximum weight by 14,000lbs—and drove them on highways. The worry is hig

Wilbur-Ellis Co. has acquired the assets of Mott Grain (No. 99 on the CropLife 100), located in Mott, ND. The acquisition broadens Wilbur-Ellis’ footprint in Southwest North Dakota and will complement the company’s aerial application business, the largest of its kind in both the North Dakota and South Dakota areas as well as the surrounding region. “Wilbur-Ellis sets a high standard for acquiring profitable businesses with people who have a work ethic similar to ours, which is exactly what we