News

Since the ELD hard mandate went into effect, the trucking market has added 4% more truck capacity

There is incredible demand right now for frac sand in the Permian Basin. With the explosive growth in fracking, customers were demanding solutions faster than GE could build them.

In the latest BiTA webinar, we reviewed the state of blockchain with industry experts. Mitch Hixon, Executive Vice President of Membership Engagement, BiTA spoke with Rachel Parker Sealy, Partner, PwC Advisory and Kris Kersey, Director, PwC Advisory, providing insights from PwC’s 2018 Global Blockchain Survey of 600 executives from 15 territories.

The SEC announced that they have settled their lawsuit with the embattled Tesla CEO. Regardless of the outcome, shareholders win.

Under California law, drivers making their way through the Golden State are entitled to a 30-minute meal break for every five hours worked.

FMCSA Administrator Martinez and his officials listened to truck drivers and fleet owners as they asked for more flexibility in the hours of service. The usefulness of split sleeping and breaking up the mandatory 30 minute break were brought up most frequently.

We look at some of the details that make the Panama Canal such a useful tool in the shipping and freight world.

Health and safety are the main concerns as crews begin cleaning up from Hurricane Florence. Debris and hazardous substances have been washed into coastal waterways.

Hurricane Rosa could flood parts of the Southwest U.S. next week. The region has been stuck in a drought, but this will be too much rain at once.

Update: Latest labor action brings attention to drayage drivers as NFI says union is trying to “force” representation on drivers.

In partnership with Reliance Partners …It’s been a wild year, and while at times it may feel more like riding a bull than being “King of the Road,” just hang on a little longer. The times are changing and they’re changing fast.

Discussions around the topic of autonomous trucks would not be complete without it addressing three main concerns – job security of drivers, data privacy, and liability issues.

The US trade deficit in goods widened for the third consecutive month in August as another decline exports was paired with a modest increase in imports.  The total value of traded volume fell for the month, but remains generally strong relative to last year.

“We are genuinely saints and sinners,” said Judge Collier, “and what we see in this white collar crime is the duality.” When the court is asked to consider all the good, it must also consider the laws that he broke again and again over a period of half a decade.

“A well-spec’d long-hood conventional stands out in a crowd,” Kyle Cousins, vice president of operations of Fleenor Bros, said after receiving one of the first W990 model tractor from Kenworth.

On Thursday night at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Kenworth Truck Co. introduced its newest long-hood tractor, the W990.

An unprecedented capacity crunch. Archaic processes badly in need of reinvention. New Uber-like technology entrants bent on cutting out the broker. How do brokers respond, transform and emerge on the other side as stronger competitive forces?

Livestock businesses are looking to secure farms from future hurricane calamities; Elon Musk is accused of fraud by the SEC; global trade expected to grow irrespective of the tariffs war.

European Commission asks for input as it looks at block exemption.

The popular electronic logging device (ELD) exemption for agricultural haulers is up for renewal before Sept. 30, but it’s longer-term fate may hang with Congress’ ability to pass a budget – or at least a Continuing Resolution (CR) to keep the government open beyond Sunday.

Indonesian coal suppliers have increased their domestic coal production target by 4.5 percent from a previous 485 million tonnes to a massive 507 million tonnes in the current year. All the additional tonnage will be exported.

Commissioner Rebecca Dye will meet with interested parties in California and Florida in October.

Witnesses to appear before the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation include the Federal Railroad Administration administrator.

ATA chairman outline group’s legislative priorities for this year.

The GDP of the Atlanta metro area is the same as what country?

Action that will be taken includes advance manifests for goods from China arriving in Canada and being trucked across the U.S. border.

It’s happening: the SEC has charged Elon Musk with issuing materially false and misleading statements intended to manipulate the price of Tesla stock.

The US Department of Agriculture has issued a Class 1 recall on 130,000 pounds of ground beef nationwide, according to a news release from the agency. The E. coli contamination is thought to have originated from a Cargill Meat Solutions facility in Fort Morgan, Colorado.

Total trailer net orders came in at over 38,000 units in August, representative of a 31 percent increase month-over-month and a staggering 142 percent increase year-over-year.

Largest U.S. intermodal rail carrier sees uptick in domestic containers and trailers as trucking capacity remains tight.

Japan is preparing for a direct strike from Typhoon Trami. People and ports are paying attention.

Yesterday Uber settled a lawsuit with all 50 states and the District of Columbia, agreeing to pay $148M for covering up a 2016 breach of driver and passenger data.

The lawsuit asserts that water “poured in through a gap in city levees,” and it says the gap was created by a railway underpass owned by CSX.

Home Depot is Uberizing same and next-day last mile delivery with two startups backed by UPS. It’s part of Home Depot’s $1.2B investment to makes its supply chains faster and more efficient.

Volvo Trucks will introduce an all-electric truck in California next year before making them commercial available in North America in 2020, the company said.

Military members looking to become truck drivers may have an easier time in doing so as the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has authorized states to waive the commercial learner’s permit (CLP) knowledge test and driving skills tests.

Trimble Transportation CTO Mark Botticelli has been tasked with integrating all of the transportation technology companies under the Trimble umbrella into a single cloud-based exchange.

Amazon 4-star will open to the public today in the SoHo neighborhood of New York.

Factory orders for durable goods rose in August, driven by a large increase in commercial aircraft orders. Orders historically are a leading indicator of future shipments, and August’s results suggest that freight demand on the durable side of the economy should remain solid.

Germany has spent $580 billion towards renewable energy infrastructure, but still would fall woefully short of its emissions reduction goals of 2020. Andreas Kuhlmann, chairman of German Energy Agency explains why.

The higher cost of domestic steel already is saddling car manufacturers with “hundreds of millions of dollars in new, unplanned cost.”

How good is the technology and powertrains on modern tractors? A group of journalists driving similarly spec’d Mack Anthem sleeper models, achieved over 8 mpg – even as high as 10.5 for one day – with the trucks on a three-day run from Asheville, NC, to New Orleans.

The state’s 25,000 port truck drivers “routinely face wage theft and illegal pay deductions while hauling goods for the world’s biggest brands,” the bill’s sponsor said.

China imposed a 25% import duty on US soybean imports in July and a domestic shortage of beans is now resulting in Chinese traders paying a higher price for Brazilian beans than what domestic crushers are paying, leading to speculation that China could again increase shipments from the US.

U.S. Wheat Associates did charge that practices in “clear violation” of a WTO agreement helped establish Turkey as the world’s leading flour exporter.

Investigation has determined that ransomware was involved in the “serious cybersecurity incident.”

FedEx, the giant US courier company, proactive adopter blockchain technology and BiTA member, has joined Linux hosted open-source project Hyperledger to further advance the use of distributed ledger in logistics, and transportation.

CEO retiring and COO moving up; aerospace logistics company filling newly created commercial role.

Traffic has returned to normal for parts of the Carolinas that flooded from Hurricane Florence, but some roads still remain closed as rivers crest.

Our latest infographic dissects the North American Air Freight Industry.

Today, the long-awaited final results are in.

There is plenty of evidence for increased capacity in the freight market. Volumes are higher than they were in March when the spot market was considered more volatile.

The two companies have reached a new milestone in their collaborative effort to create 150 women-owned businesses in transportation. The program announced that it had welcomed its 50th participant last week.

On September 22, 2018, Governor Jerry Brown signed Senate Bill 1402 into law in the state of California following a hard-fought battle surrounding labor liability in ports, as reported by the Los Angeles Times.

The investment bank issued a report this morning calling for one more spot rate peak in the fourth quarter, followed by a softer 2019 that should still be 12% above the 2012-7 cycle. New price targets were also issued.

Both new home sales and home starts showed some improvement in August, ending months of disappointing activity. Existing home sales failed to expand for the fifth straight month however, and housing in general remains a weak area for freight demand.

The long-anticipated Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) reauthorization bill is up for a vote and it does not include the controversial meal-and-rest break provision that the American Trucking Associations (ATA) and other industry forces were seeking.

Iran’s truckers are on strike in 100 cities for the second time this year, causing fuel shortages. Meanwhile, the Iranian rial is rapidly losing its value, and the country’s biggest crude oil customers are cutting it off.

The report on online transportation platforms does not draw any conclusions about why it’s happening, but it has plenty of data to back up that it is occurring.

The conclusion to the Hazelwood trial is expected to be reached today in Chattanooga, TN.

Readers of the printed newspaper are on a decline. It is essential that distribution companies that cater to this audience adapt to change, and optimize their logistics processes to increase profits.

How can something so small be such a big deal? For two very significant reasons.

Project is designed to attract containers now drayed to off-dock rail yards.

The scrapping of sister passenger- and cargo-carrying vessels marked the end of an era.

The numbers look good but deteriorating service is tarnishing the traditional role of intermodal.

Ocean shipping rates below cost of capital have been boon to customers, bane to companies. But the equation may flip.

Appropriation of $30 million will help streamline processes, increase visibility and improve risk assessment.

Hewlett-Packard export compliance officer expects a lot of public comments on the control of technologies essential to national security.

This infographic looks at why 3PLs have grown in popularity over the years.

Rescue has shifted to recovery in areas affected by Hurricane Florence. But crews are still keeping an eye on localized flooding and high tides this week.

According to an open letter from Walmart to its leafy green suppliers, the company will forge ahead in blockchain development as part of the Food Trust as soon as early 2019.

Brent and WTI prices have reached 4 year highs, and the Brent-WTI spread continues to favor American oil exports on the international market. We explain how longer lateral lengths in Permian Basin horizontal wells are driving truckload demand.

The partnership will be a joint effort in discovering the next generation of connected car capabilities for businesses of any size.

FreightWaves adds additional functionality to SONAR with tri-delta functionality on the Headhaul Index as well as the newly revised Trucks in Market, making it easier than ever to identify market disruptions.

Walmart brought blockchain technology to the forefront now three times.

Cashflow Corner presented by TriumphPay …A creature from the Black Lagoon, George Washington’s desk, and a 10-foot gold-plated harp are just a few of the odd things hauled by truck drivers, according to the 2018 King of the Road survey from Atlas Van Lines.

XPO already has an extensive tuition-free training program in-house. This move expands it out the front door.

Bernd Heid from McKinsey elaborated on the future of mobility, drawing instances of disruptions in the transportation industry and the need for adapting business models to market and regulatory requirements.

R2 Logistics, Inc., a customer-focused third-party logistics (3PL) service provider, is the latest member of the Blockchain in Transport Alliance (BiTA).

“Importers are getting hurt” by duties meant to punish China.

The scenario laid out by a leading energy economist is that the market needs a way to soften the blow of higher oil prices that would be spurred by the new environment rule.

CB Insights says while there has been a drop-off in funding this year, supply chain innovation is becoming a greater concern for businesses around the world.

A prolonged bear market for crude oil tankers have resulted in the deletion of triple the number of ships sold for scrap, compared to last year.

Nasdaq listed technology firm Ideanomics (NASDAQ:SSC) has formed a joint venture with APMEN Trade Tech Co Ltd., to streamline ports in the Asia Pacific by using blockchain and artificial intelligence in the Port of Shanghai, currently the world’s busiest port.

Maersk, MSC and CMA CGM are implementing fees they say will help cover costs to reduce sulphur emissions; the IMO announces it will not push back the deadline.

Icelandic cargo shipping firm names interim managing director of U.S. operations; American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials taps next executive director.

Ocean carriers guiding expectations on rates as one of the biggest changes to shipping set to hit in 2020.

Port aims for new on-dock rail facility to handle increased container throughput and meet clean-air goals.

A total of 67,502 inspections took place in 2018.

Prologis is making further investments in the communities it has developed by launching an internship program for high schoolers from under-served areas to enter the logistics industry.

10 days after Hurricane Florence made landfall near Wilmington, much of the North Carolina coast is still flooded. Waters are forecast to gradually recede over the course of this week and into the weekend.

The service can search shipments for drivers beforehand to help ensure their trips are consistently profitable. The service puts in the work so drivers don’t have to.

Adrian Gonzalez, President of Adelante SCM explained that in order to compete in the ever-changing logistics environment, the best thing companies can do is define their own competitive weapon.

$200B of tariffs imposed on Chinese imports today; the 4PL era is here; China cancels further trade talks; Germany’s maritime fleet shrinks by 1/3; air cargo not yet feeling tariff pain; oil rallies.

The Carrier Relationship Platform uses data to organize and automate a company’s processes with a unique approach: delivering targeting engagements to strengthen relationships.

The two Koreas consider historic trade agreements in the middle of ‘Autumn Eve’, their peak shipping season.

Three-judge panel could pave the way for the American Institute of International Steel’s appeal to go before the Supreme Court.

Leaders from state departments of transportation across the country participated in a panel discussion about connected and automated vehicles, and the winding road to their ubiquitous adoption.

The rapid growth in LNG imports to China, Japan and Korea is driving the cost of transportation higher, with Atlantic cargoes bound for Asia approaching $100,000 per day for Large LNG carriers, up from $30,000 per day a year ago.