Business
Transport Topics business coverage focuses on the financial, economic, and commercial aspects of the modern freight business. Looking at both the microeconomic and macroeconomic forces shaping bottom lines, the news in this category includes labor news, jobs reports, tonnage and sales indicators, operations analysis, money and banking, mergers, acquisitions, e-commerce, bankruptcy, insurance issues, and more.
Harrison Apologizes to Rail Shippers for Summer Service Disruptions
WASHINGTON — CSX Corp. CEO Hunter Harrison apologized to railroad shippers at a U.S. Surface Transportation Board meeting Oct. 11, blaming layoffs prior to his arrival, the proxy battle to replace the prior leadership and employee resistance for lengthy service disruption during the summer.
Port Manatee Enjoys Record-Breaking Year for Volume, Cargo Tons
Port Manatee set records for container volume and cargo tons moved during its recently completed fiscal year, besting marks set in 2010 for both categories.
XPO Logistics Named Forbes Growth Champion as Revenue Rockets to $14.6 Billion
Greenwich, Conn.-based transportation and delivery services company XPO Logistics was the top performing U.S. company on Forbes’ list of Growth Champions, released Oct. 10.
2017 MCE
Photos from the 2017 Management Conference and Exhibition at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Fla., Oct. 21-25, 2017.
October 11, 2017Coming Soon to California: Cars Without a Human Behind the Wheel
California took another step Oct. 11 toward permitting testing of self-driving vehicles without a human driver, continuing a shift away from previous policies that companies criticized as being overly restrictive.
KPIs: Fleet Managers Watch Key Performance Indicators to Make Data-Driven Decisions, Improve Operations
If you don’t measure it, you can’t improve it. That old business adage may not apply in all cases, but it does capture the essense of a growing movement toward data-driven decision-making in trucking.
Platooning: Coming Soon to a Truck Near You
Truck platooning — also known by the more precise but less compelling term “cooperative adaptive cruise control” — will soon become available to trucking fleets interested in testing the latest in fuel-saving technology.
PeopleNet Explores Augmented Reality in Trucking, Wearable Tech for Drivers, Remotely Piloted Trucks
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Trucking technology supplier PeopleNet envisions a future when truck drivers might wear virtual-reality goggles to perform data-enhanced vehicle inspections while dispatchers monitor their fleets in a 3D context rather than simply viewing dots on a computer screen.
FMCSA Grants Truck Renting and Leasing Association a Limited Five-Year ELD Exemption
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration announced that it is granting the Truck Renting and Leasing Association a five-year exemption from a federal requirement that all trucks be equipped with electronic logging devices to record drivers’ hours of service.
Logistics Revenues Due to Go Up in Quarterly Reports, but Margins Still Drag Down Profits
Third-party logistics firms capitalized on stronger demand to transport freight this summer but spent more to purchase trucks, resulting in what Wall Street analysts predict will be a mixed-earnings season.