DOT releases freight plan calling for local road funding, ‘accelerated technologies,’ expediting projects

SEATTLE — The Department of Transportation this past weekend introduced a National Freight Strategic Plan that showed a number of challenges in the coming years including 70 million more people in the next 30 years; a 40 percent increase in freight volume by 2040; increasingly larger vessels and more containers at our ports; a tripling of air freight and a doubling of multimodal shipments and volumes of imports/exports.

Truck drivers wanted. Pay: $73,000

There will be a shortage of nearly 50,000 truckers in the United States by the end of this year, according a new report by the American Trucking Associations (ATA). That’s up from a shortage of 30,000 drivers just two years ago, and 20,000 drivers a decade ago.

Trucking Makes a Comeback, but Small Operators Miss Out

A recovering U.S. economy is driving record demand for trucking. But many smaller operators, who make up the vast majority of the roughly 470,000 for-hire fleets on the road today, say they’re missing out on the boom. (This article requires a subscription with The Wall Street Journal.  To access, please click on the above link.)

New trucking initiative seeks to polish industry’s image to nation

A new trucking advocacy group is trying to buff up and modernize the image of the 7 million Americans involving in the domestic trucking industry.

Operational Costs Rise Despite Falling Fuel Prices

Rising equipment costs and driver wages led to an increase in operational costs in 2014, according to a comprehensive report from the American Transportation Research Institute.

AAR Reports Weekly Rail Traffic for the Week Ending September 19, 2015

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Sep. 23, 2015 – The Association of American Railroads (AAR) today reported U.S. rail traffic for the week ending Sep. 19, 2015.  For this week, total U.S. weekly rail traffic was 566,734 carloads and intermodal units, down 2.5 percent compared with the same week last year.

Oil prices up on news of tightening U.S. supplies

On news of slightly decreased U.S. oil supplies Tuesday oil prices rose, with Brent crude up 55 cents to $47.89 a barrel after sinking 2.5 percent Monday. U.S. light crude was up 45 cents to $44.88.

Trucks haul 63.9% of U.S.-NAFTA freight, still most utilized mode

The value of U.S.-NAFTA freight totaled $93.0 billion in July 2015 as all modes except air carried less freight than in July 2014, according to the TransBorder Freight Data released today by the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS

Consumer Confidence Unexpectedly Rises in September

Consumer confidence unexpectedly rose in September as a resilient labor market helped American shake off the effects of tumbling stock prices.

 

Truckload rates up for sixth straight month

Truckload rates increased 3.7 percent in August 2015 compared to August 2014 following year-over-year increases of 3.6 percent in June and July, according to the latest Cass Truckload Linehaul Index.