Reefer Charges to Rise
Carriers that haul refrigerated cargo are planning to raise freight rates by as much as 10% this year.
“We actually started 8 to 10 weeks ago,” said Jack Liles, chairman of KLLM Transport Services in Jackson, Miss. “We realized in the fall that we had to do something.”
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The increases follow similar moves by dry van truckload carriers in recent weeks ("Truckload Seeks Rate Hikes," 12-20, p. 1). Many less-than-truckload companies instituted rate hikes around 5% during the busy fall shipping season and later in 1999.
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Fleet executives say higher rates are desperately needed to offset rising costs for a wide range of expenses, including driver wages, equipment and insurance, and to recover the extra cost of diesel fuel used to run refrigeration units on trailers.
