Lack of Holiday Shipping Surge Depresses 4Q Truckload Profits
Profits fell at major public truckload carriers in the fourth quarter, as declining demand for freight carriage more than eliminated the benefit of declining diesel prices, which are now lower than a year earlier.
Shippers Back Increasing Weight Limit for Trucks
Click here to write a Letter to the Editor.WASHINGTON — Shippers would like to see a switch to larger trucks, and U.S. safety inspectors monitoring size-and-weight rules could have more technology at their disposal in the coming years, according to a Transportation Research Board panel discussion here.
Fleets Face Uncertain Outlook as Freight Continues to Fall
Evidence is accumulating that freight volumes are falling significantly and that the traditional fourth-quarter peak was all but nonexistent, although analysts and fleet executives remain unsure of what will happen in the first half of the new year.
‘Mac’ Became a Trucker By Chance, and Like His Father, Led His Peers
VINCENNES, Ind. — Clarence James “Mac” McCormick III, chairman and chief executive officer of dedicated contract carrier Bestway Express, and a former leader of the Truckload Carriers Association, said in an interview here earlier this year that he had entered the trucking business almost by accident.
New Engine Testing Smoother Than in 2002, Fleet Officials Say
As the federal government begins its certification process of 2007 diesel truck engines, fleet executives who have worked with test vehicles said the current switchover process is proceeding more smoothly than it did in October 2002, the last time the Environmental Protection Agency altered emission regulations.
Heavy-Truck Sales Up 6.1%
Heavy-duty truck sales increased by 6.1% in July, enough to keep annual sales on pace to set a new record, even though the acceleration in volume is slowing.
June Truck Sales Hit 25,240
Truck makers had their second-biggest month on record in June, selling 25,240 heavy-duty vehicles in June to U.S. customers, a 6.3% improvement over June 2005. It was the 32nd straight month of year-over-year sales gains, as carriers continued their pre-buy ahead of 2007. br clear="all">
Medium-Duty Sales Dip 0.2% in June to 36,344
Medium-duty truck sales contracted slightly in June, although there was strong growth in Classes 6 and 7, and sales finished the first half of 2006 ahead of their pace of a year earlier.
Fuel Hedging: Risky Business or Risk Management?
With diesel fuel prices at sky-high levels and volatile, some large shippers are joining for-hire fleets in seeking cost stability by turning to buying and selling options on financial futures contracts — or hedging.
May Class 8 Truck Sales Jump 20%
Heavy-duty truck manufacturers had their second-busiest month ever in May, selling 25,149 Class 8 vehicles, a 20% jump from a year ago.
