Trucking

Forward Air reported first-quarter earnings results and issued second-quarter guidance that were both ahead of expectations.

Provider of fuel payment processing for fleets reported 5% revenue decline in first quarter

The truckload carrier’s OR went from in excess of 100% to 95.8%.

Shipping costs rise 57% to $17.1 billion.

Wabash National spent $364 million to buy into final-mile products in 2017. It is finally starting to realize the hoped-for potential.

Are you ready for next week’s International Roadcheck? Reliance Partners’ Brian Runnels offers some tips to remain violation free.

Biden’s infrastructure plan becomes a platform for legislation that includes billions in grants for fast-charging truck stations.

Schneider National sees several favorable catalysts through the remainder of 2021 that are supportive of its guidance raise. Finding equipment and drivers will be the challenge.

“By focusing on specific segments, brokers can offer a higher quality service that allows them to focus on specific customer needs,” Bratnober said.

Schneider National’s first quarter comes in ahead of analysts’ expectations and the company raises its full-year outlook by 8% at the midpoint of the range.

Hunker down once more; things appear to be heating up for LTL demand heading into the summer months.

Carriers continue to face fines and out-of-service violations because they don’t understand the difference between intrastate and interstate operating authority.

Forward Air announced it has entered an agreement to acquire expedited transportation and less-than-truckload provider J&P Hall Express.

Ford and GM say the chip shortage could cost the automakers more than $1 billion in earnings during 2021.

Getting around the B prong of the ABC test is going to be complicated for companies trying to use independent owner-operators in California.

Werner Enterprises reported a first-quarter record for operating income Wednesday after the close. Revenue-per-mile guidance in its one-way segment moved higher.

Oshkosh can make 100% battery-electric delivery trucks for the U.S. Postal Service, likely dashing Workhorse’s hopes of reigniting the competition.

Ryder is a major supplier of used trucks to the market, and its numbers showed a healthy second sales demand in the quarter.

Despite supply chain constraints, Tier 1 driveline supplier Dana beat analyst expectations for Q1 and raised full-year estimates.

The CEO of TFI International suggests the Canadian firm is looking to grow its relationship with UPS beyond its $800 million acquisition of UPS Freight.

Less-than-truckload carrier Saia reported first-quarter earnings ahead of expectations and guided for second-quarter results to outpace normal seasonality.

The California Trucking Association lawsuit was able to hold off the law in the state’s trucking industry for 16 months, but the injunction it won has been overturned.

The CEO of Covenant, while reviewing a strong quarter for the truckload carrier, gives his perspective on the labor market the company faces.

Less-than-truckload carrier Saia reports a big year-over-year increase in earnings during the first quarter even as weather negatively impacted one-third of its network.

Two truck drivers were turned over to North Dakota authorities after CBP officers discovered $4.5 million of marijuana during an inspection of a truck at the U.S.-Canada border crossing in Pembina.

TFI International reports a 17% increase in operating income during the first quarter as the Canadian trucking and logistics firm gets a strong start to 2021.

PACCAR puts up strong Q1 numbers, including record parts sales that suggest the new truck backlog is boosting aftermarket sales.

The move comes as the company reports terrific first-quarter results and its shares soar.

Less-than-truckload carrier Yellow announced it is taking delivery of the next wave of equipment, which has been facilitated by the CARES Act loan it received in 2020.

As TriumphPay gets set to bring in HubTran, a business with lots of companies may become one with far fewer firms.

Driver surveys examining turnover rates have consistently shown that drivers value three things: pay, time and respect.

In a business model in which each company keeps its information to itself, data becomes siloed and consumers ultimately pay the price.

Autonomous software from Plus applied to the Cummins Westport natural gas engine could pair self-driving with negative net-zero carbon footprint.

“There’s no reason the yard of the future shouldn’t operate with the click of a button and the power of the sun,” says Outrider CEO Andrew Smith.

Revenue jumps by double digits across the board; pension gains account for about half of EPS increase.

First-quarter earnings reports from truckload carriers highlight a booming freight market. A strong consumer, tight truck capacity and elevated rates appear the likely dynamics for the remainder of the year.

Covenant’s overall OR improved by 620 bps from the first quarter of 2020, a significant gain.

A California freight forwarder filed Chapter 7 bankruptcy last week, collectively owing transportation and logistics companies more than $884,000.

Roehl Transport announced its second driver pay increase of the year.

Several trucking and logistics companies are collectively owed hundreds of thousands of dollars after an Indiana brokerage ceased operations and filed Chapter 7.

The growing backlog of new truck orders has supercharged pricing for newer used models at auctions, with retail traffic also high.

Regulators point to fatalities in promoting Work Zone Awareness Week.

China is the second-largest international trading partner for the three largest land border crossings in the Lone Star State.

Borderlands is a weekly rundown of developments in the world of United States-Mexico cross-border trucking and trade. This week: Why does innovation stop at the Mexico border?; Arkansas trucking operation expands into Texas; Samsara releases fuel efficiency report; and VW begins exporting Taos from Mexico.

Biden executive order will make it easier to lead by example on electric vehicles, DOT chief says.

Daimler Truck AG, soon to be a stand-alone business, showed a modest recovery from the pandemic-impacted year-ago first quarter.

Canadian electric truck and bus manufacturer Lion Electric is poised to go public after Northern Genesis Acquisition Corp. shareholders approve SPAC merger.

Truck Talk is a weekly newsletter with perspective and context on the trucking industry, alternative transportation, powertrains and autonomy.

Prologis launched a new LEED program, Blume Global says it will be carbon-neutral very soon, and bays are seeing ecological recovery.

Variant is a company within a company that is being touted as the future of U.S. Xpress.

Cargo congestion has gone from bad to worse at Chicago O’Hare International Airport, forcing importers to wait several days to retrieve shipments and prompting two large logistics companies to migrate […]

After being fined $30 million for slow recall reporting, Daimler recalls 15 new truck models for a tie rod defect despite fielding no customer complaints.

Roni Rae Brady, the former chief judge for the Northern Cheyenne Tribal Council, was sentenced to six months in prison for a scam that targeted truckers.

New guidance from the Biden administration includes the trucking industry as part of its 500,000-charging station rollout.

The company’s revenue rose but operating margins are higher; Variant targets are being met and revenue is 11.8% of total truckload.

The CEO of one of Canada’s largest trucking companies, Mullen Group, says the country’s freight market will bounce back after COVID-19 is under control.

Reliance Partners’ Brandon Richards offers those new to the industry advice on auto liability policies — a prerequisite for every motor carrier.

Tenstreet’s Crawford talks about what he’s seeing in the flow of new driver applications.

y using a certain type of natural gas, and measuring its life cycle, a manufacturer of engines says its technology has a carbon impact of less than zero.

After a delay in getting hydrogen infrastructure partners, Nikola cuts its second deal in a week, this one withTravelCenters of America.

Old Dominion Freight Line set a first-quarter record even with adverse weather conditions. The second quarter is shaping up to produce a new all-time company record.

Aaron Graft has been assuring users HubTran’s open loop system will not be giving Triumph’s factoring business an unfair advantage

The Office of Management and Budget is considering whether to greenlight a trucking automated driving systems project.

Companies need to think outside the box in order to meet consumer demand despite crowded ports and constrained capacity. Mobile warehousing and storage offers an affordable solution.

Sweden’s Volvo AB reported a record operating margin in Q1 following a warning of up to a month of downtime due to microchip shortages.

As hydrogen grows as a fuel source for long-haul trucking, Nikola Motor Corp. is finding ways to bring down the cost of manufacturing the fuel.

SmartHop has tapped Amy Liu, formerly of Uber Elevate, as chief of staff and to help build out its New York office. The company also announced the opening of an office in Bogota, Colombia.

Transfix considers the relationships at stake for a carrier or shipper in order to build the right tech solution.

Prosecutors allege Oumar Sissoko, 59, of Temecula, California, who claimed to own a pothole repair company called Road Doctor California LLC, spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on luxury items after receiving $7.25 million in PPP loan funds.

FreightWaves introduces FreightWaves Carbon Intelligence. Learn more here!

Old Dominion Freight Line announced its best first-quarter result in company history on Thursday. Improved density and yields led to a 76.1% operating ratio, 530 basis points better year-over-year.

Supply chain, climate and FreightWaves experts shared their hopes for Earth Day next year in terms of reduced emissions, alternative fuel adoption, government leadership and more.

P.A.M. Transportation Services posted a profit in the first quarter of 2021. The bulk of the improvement came on the nonoperating line.

Truck repairs and parts sales covered all the cost of running Rush Enterprises’ dealership network in Q1 as year-over-year profits doubled.

Broker Landstar System blew out analysts’ expectations for the first quarter. The company’s earnings almost doubled from the year-ago quarter, which wasn’t materially impacted by COVID. Landstar’s new guidance calls for more of the same.

The bank’s book of business grew at a pace that far exceeded the additional business that came with its acquisition of Covenant’s factoring operation

GP Transco is the latest carrier to raise driver pay. Base pay alone for company drivers moves 15% higher.

Daimler Trucks and Portland General Electric opened their Electric Island charging site as part of a border-to-border charging corridor.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers recently seized methamphetamine and illegal chicken lollipop pet treats in separate enforcement actions in Texas.

Heartland Express reported a slight miss on first-quarter earnings expectations Wednesday. The carrier pointed to relative strength in March as it exited the quarter, noting that driver pay will need to be raised again.

The Defense Department lawsuit from 2018 is continuing even as the federal government has taken a stake in the LTL carrier.

Knight-Swift Transportation posted a large headline earnings beat in the first quarter but it was less impressive by comparison when excluding nonoperating income. The company now sees over-the-road contract rates increasing in the mid-teen percentage range during 2021.

Hyliion Holdings stock is getting hammered along with most electric vehicle startups, but CEO Thomas Healy is staying optimistic.

North Dakota will begin giving COVID-19 vaccines to cross-border truckers from Manitoba as Canada contends with a slower vaccination rollout.

Clean Energy Fuels will provide the renewable natural gas. Amazon could end up owning part of the company.

FMCSA needs more time to integrate the electronic transfer of driver medical certificates to and from state motor carrier agencies.

Samsara data shows cloud-based digitization is expanding beyond vehicle telematics and into other operational areas like site security and equipment monitoring.

The Salesforce Sustainability Cloud on Tuesday added a scope 3 emissions hub that allows companies to track upstream emissions from business travel, purchased goods and employee commutes.

How not-in-my-backyard activists delayed efforts to invest in trucking on a Tennessee interstate.

Retail prices fell even as wholesale and commodity prices increased.

Shippers who have a deep understanding of their data, with access to comprehensive models, are the ones most likely to win in today’s shipping environment.

Jacobs says 10% U.S. GDP growth is not out of the question in 2021.

Arguments in the appeal of the injunction keeping AB5 as California law were made in September; the industry still awaits the final word.

Chain.io plans to use the $5 million to fill a number of positions in sales, engineering, customer success and more.

Canadian trucking giant Mullen Group wades into truck sales after acquiring a small Volvo and Mack dealership as part of the acquisition of British Columbia’s Bandstra Group.

After spending over 30 years in transportation-related climate policy, Dan Becker, director of the Safe Climate Transport Campaign, has some interesting insights.

Hyzon Motors plans to deliver the first of 15 hydrogen-powered fuel cell trucks in the Netherlands in Q3, further establishing Europe leadership.

One significant difference from traditional hedging: There is no chance of hedging losses, just upfront fees instead.

This AskWaves column explains why investors and other transportation stakeholders look at operating ratio as a way to gauge a company’s financial health.

Borderlands is a weekly rundown of developments in the world of United States-Mexico cross-border trucking and trade. This week: Rural areas are the next e-commerce frontier; Texas FedEx distribution center acquired; Authentic Logistics opens Phoenix office; and CBP seizes counterfeit N95 masks in Houston.