Increasing losses from cargo theft are leading insurers to raise rates and crack down on shippers and carriers that leave trailers unguarded in high-crime areas.

Increasing losses from cargo theft are leading insurers to raise rates and crack down on shippers and carriers that leave trailers unguarded in high-crime areas.

No previous attempts to string together a national network of local same-day package delivery companies have been truly successful, but two more companies are ready to give it a shot.

Professional Transportation Group’s chief executive and majority shareholder, Dennis A. Bakal, is selling his stock to a Kentucky-based company that owns controlling interest in U.S. Trucking of Charleston, S.C.

Landstar System installed G. Tom Beam as interim president of its Landstar Ligon subsidiary in the wake a proposed unsatisfactory safety rating from the Department of Transportation.

Trucking companies are bracing themselves for potentially large increases in insurance costs next year.

A spokeswoman for Landstar System said last week the Jacksonville, Fla.-based company is working “feverishly” to resolve problems that led the Department of Transportation to propose an unsatisfactory safety fitness rating for one of its subsidiaries, Landstar Ligon.

Ryder System said it will combine its two primary businesses — Ryder Transportation Services and Ryder Integrated Logistics — and create a separate captive finance subsidiary in an effort to improve client service and enhance the company’s long-term growth.

Simon Transportation Services’ board of directors has rejected a proposal from Jerry Moyes, chairman of Swift Transportation, to acquire controlling interest in the company.

Trucking companies are bracing themselves for potentially large increases in insurance costs next year, with premiums for general liability and cargo insurance could go up 10% to 20%