Truckload

Three former USA Dry Van Logistics executives are charged with bilking more than $26 million from lender GE Capital.

The nation’s largest refrigerated truckload carrier is raising pay for company drivers and owner-operators following a “stronger fiscal performance.”

Qualcomm is selling its Omnitracs trucking communications and telematics business for $800 million to Vista Equity Partners, a private equity firm that specializes in technology companies.

Shippers face “significant” rate increases in the U.S. over the next few years unless they build more multimodal supply chains for domestic and inbound shipments, an investment analyst warns.

TransCore Link Logistics’ Canadian Freight Index was basically flat in July compared with the previous month and July 2012, dodging the traditional summer slowdown typical for the month.

The American Trucking Associations’ advanced seasonally adjusted For-Hire Trucking Tonnage Index slipped 0.4 percent in July from June, to 125.4, after inching up 0.1 percent in June.

The U.S. economy marked a milestone in June: the beginning of a fifth straight year of recovery as measured by growth in gross domestic product. Don’t worry, you didn’t miss the ticker-tape parade. With GDP increasing 1.1 percent and 1.7 percent in the first and second quarters of 2013, no one’s in much of a mood to celebrate.

PTA Holdings is expanding its refrigerated truckload business, adding a baked goods shipper in San Antonio, Texas, to balance northbound and southbound loads.

FTR Associates’ Shippers Conditions Index for June fell “only marginally” from the previous month to a reading of negative 8.1.

Direct ChassisLink Inc. plans to participate in a new pilot program to offer premium chassis with radial tires in Consolidated Chassis Management's South Atlantic Chassis Pool.

Arkansas Best today reported net income of $4.9 million in the second quarter of 2013, down from $11.8 million in the same period last year.

Spot market truck traffic increased 3 percent in July from June, the first sequential monthly increase in July since 1996, according to load-matching service DAT.

North America’s Class 8 net truck orders in July reached 17,307 units, the lowest level since September 2012, dropping 7 percent compared with the previous month, according to FTR Associates’ preliminary data.

Schneider National is adding 200 truck drivers in Arizona and opening a facility in Phoenix.

CK Commercial Vehicle Research’s latest Fleet Sentiment Report predicted increased activity for Class 8 truck orders in the third quarter of 2013.

Celadon Group reported its net income decreased 20.0 percent to $7.2 million in the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2013, ending June 30, 2013, from $9.0 million in the same quarter last year.

Towne Air Freight has ordered 300 new Great Dane trailers, worth $9 million, to increase its fleet and retire older equipment.

Buoyed by stronger confidence in business trends, truckload carriers plan to add capacity — but not too much capacity, according to a second quarter survey.

Landstar System reported its profit in the second quarter of 2013 was $30.4 million, dropping 15.1 percent from $35.9 million in the second quarter of 2012.

In the second quarter of 2013, Mullen Group reported it generated net income of C$27.4 million (about US$26.6 million), an increase of $19.4 million or 270.3 percent from $7.2 million in the same quarter last year.

Swift Transportation today reported its profit in the second quarter of 2013 was $42.9 million, jumping 27.4 percent from $33.7 million in the same quarter in the previous year.

Knight Transportation reported its net income in the second quarter of 2013 was $18.9 million, sliding 1.8 percent from $19.3 million in the second quarter of 2012.

TransCore Link Logistics’ Canadian Freight Index volume slipped 7 percent in June compared with the previous month, continuing the up-and-down results in the first half of the year...

The American Trucking Associations’ advanced seasonally adjusted For-Hire Trucking Tonnage Index inched up 0.1 percent month-over-month to 125.9 in June, after surging 2.1 percent in May.

Werner Enterprises reported net income in the second quarter of 2013 was $25.8 million, dropping 16 percent from $30.7 million in the second quarter of 2012.

Heartland Express reported net income in the second quarter of 2013 was $19.1 million, increasing 5.0 percent or $0.9 million from $18.2 million in the same period last year.

FTR Associates’ Shippers Conditions Index for May was basically unchanged from the level of the last few months at a reading of negative 7.5.

Marten Transport today reported its net income in the second quarter of 2013 was $7.7 million, inching up 1.1 percent from $7.6 million in the second quarter of 2012.

Duff Brothers Capital has agreed to acquire all of the outstanding shares of common stock of Frozen Food Express Industries, a temperature-controlled truckload and less-than-truckload carrier in the U.S., for $38.2 million.

North American truckload pricing in June increased 1.5 percent year-over-year and 1.0 percent month-over-month, according to the Cass Truckload Linehaul Index.

Integrated Freight Corp. has reached an agreement with its single largest creditor group, thereby reducing its total outstanding debt.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services reported net earnings in the second quarter of 2013 were $87.70 million, improving 9 percent compared with $80.45 million in the second quarter of 2012.

TRAC Intermodal has begun providing truckers with premium rentals of marine chassis equipped with radial tires, automatic pneumatic airing systems, LED lighting, ABS braking, GPS tracking and other features.

Just over 50 percent of trucking companies believe they are getting the rates of return needed to justify further investment in new equipment.

FTR Associates’ Trucking Conditions Index for May, published in the July 2013 Trucking Update, was unchanged compared with the previous month...

Cargo interests who ship by truck could face a severe capacity crunch in the near future if the U.S. experiences sustained economic growth, and if government regulations take the toll on motor carrier productivity that the trucking industry fears will happen.

Truck tonnage should remain unusually robust this summer, buoyed by construction and manufacturing activity and resilient consumer confidence, said Mark Montague, industry rate analyst at DAT.