Logistics

Truck tonnage in November declined a seasonally adjusted 3.8%, marking the eighth consecutive month of year-over-year declines, American Trucking Associations said Dec. 22. However, the ATA For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index increased 3.7% in November after falling 5% in October when measured month-to-month.

Container shipping, the backbone of the global trading system, is showing signs of fatigue as the pandemic descends into its darkest days.

As part of its continued response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has issued a waiver offering regulatory relief to commercial driver license and commercial learner permit holders.

A containership owned by A.P. Moller-Maersk A/S was attacked off the West African coast, prompting the company to warn of a rising risk from piracy in the area.

Logistics companies including DB Schenker and DSV Panalpina A/S have begun chartering planes to keep U.K. factories supplied with components and avoid snarls in road and sea transport caused by Brexit.

Trucking is entering a year of change as the industry confronts a new phase of the coronavirus pandemic and adjusts to new practices.

A federal advisory panel recommends that the next round of coronavirus vaccines be given to teachers, first responders, correction officers and grocery store employees, along with people 75 and over. Truckers and other transportation workers would fall into a group behind that group.

Initial shipments of the second COVID-19 vaccine authorized in the U.S. left a distribution center Dec. 20, a desperately needed boost as the nation works to bring the coronavirus pandemic under control.

The trucking industry is central to the country’s agriculture sector as trucks transport a significant majority of agricultural freight by tonnage, according to a report published this month by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The memory of 2020 will be forever linked to the COVID-19 pandemic.