Discover comprehensive trucking news and trends with Journal of Commerce - from trucking LTL to regulation and trucking supply and demand.

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">The following index charts weekly changes in motor carrier tonnage originatingfrom 49 produc</div>

The following index charts weekly changes in motor carrier tonnage originatingfrom 49 produc

<div class="phx-topic">The following index charts weekly changes in motor carrier tonnage originatingfrom 49 production areas located throughout the United States.The truck tonnage index is a sensitive, short-term indicator of the industry's freight volume. It is similar in format to the indexes used by the federal government to track industrial production, retail sales and consumer prices.Data is compiled by the American Trucking Associations from a selected sample of carriers in each production area. ATA publishes percentage increases and decreases, which The Journal of Commerce converts into the index.The index is keyed to the week ending Feb. 9, 1985, which is assigned a value of 100. No adjustment is made for weeks shortened by holidays.The week ending April 18 includes a 4 day week, for Good Friday.Week EndingProduction Area 5/2 4/25 4/18Boston 322.8 283.2 281.0Hartford 148.3 131.2 107.2New York 134.9 127.1 102.3Newark 85.0 77.6 61.9Philadelphia 125.7 114.7 89.8Harrisburg 86.0 79.8 74.7Allentown 139.6 129.3 100.4Northeast Pa. 139.2 116.7 80.7Syracuse 95.6 83.9 74.8Buffalo 142.0 118.5 104.6Pittsburgh 139.9 123.7 102.5Cleveland 150.6 129.4 110.0Columbus 186.5 171.9 156.3Cincinnati 206.5 178.6 163.0Detroit 238.1 226.1 203.9Lansing - E. Lansing 299.9 263.5 228.7Grand Rapids 254.0 222.4 229.3Indianapolis 154.7 139.1 118.9Chicago 168.1 152.4 121.3Milwaukee 149.4 126.7 111.2St. Louis 173.4 147.6 140.7Kansas City 176.2 144.3 147.1Minneapolis-St. Paul 201.2 168.4 157.8Baltimore 118.2 129.5 103.7Washington, D.C. 173.5 149.3 128.9Norfolk 126.0 118.2 122.0Week EndingProduction Area 5/2 4/25 4/18Greensboro 102.8 79.6 87.6Charlotte 162.6 131.0 135.3Atlanta 105.6 93.2 86.8Tampa-St. Pete. 120.3 102.5 94.5Miami 133.6 111.0 111.6Louisville 178.9 172.7 158.0Nashville 117.0 104.0 88.1Memphis 120.9 102.6 102.3Birmingham 72.6 64.8 59.2New Orleans 88.3 79.6 65.8Houston 113.4 100.1 95.9San Antonio 154.4 148.2 148.5Dallas-Fort Worth 117.8 103.2 95.0Oklahoma City 150.1 141.2 136.3Denver 76.2 73.5 62.3Phoenix 330.3 295.5 307.2Seattle 259.8 232.2 236.0Portland 423.3 405.1 331.8San Francisco-Oakland 92.5 75.0 72.5Sacramento 269.4 232.4 175.5Los Angeles 244.6 212.0 192.7San Diego 488.2 451.6 331.8TOTAL EASTERN U.S. 128.0 115.2 97.7Total Southern U.S. 119.1 102.0 98.9Total Western U.S. 152.3 133.5 124.4Total All Areas 143.0 126.2 113.5</div>

Trucking News

WEEKLY TRUCK TONNAGE INDEX

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">TNT to Purchase Red Star Express LinesDes Plaines, Ill.- TNT Limited, one of the world's lar</div>

TNT to Purchase Red Star Express LinesDes Plaines, Ill.- TNT Limited, one of the world's lar

<div class="phx-topic">TNT to PurchaseRed Star Express LinesDes Plaines, Ill.- TNT Limited, one of the world's largest transportation companies, announced it will purchase Red Star Express Lines Inc., a major Eastern motor carrier.Terms of the transaction weren't disclosed.TNT, headquartered in Sydney, Australia, already owns several U.S. truck lines, including Pilot Freight Carriers Inc. and Holland Motor Express Inc. The corporation also owns major Canadian motor carriers.In conjunction with the acquisition, TNT also announced that Gerald Bisgrove, Red Star's chairman and president, has been appointed chief executive officer of TNT North America, which conducts the parent corporation's trucking operations in the United States and Canada.Teamsters Voted Down At SLA Transport Inc.GLOVERSVILLE, N.Y. -- Employees at SLA Transport Inc. have voted 7-1 against joining the Teamsters Union.SLA is a $1.1 million a year operation, said Jerry Seigel, SLA's president.He added that his firm employs 14 full-time workers, including eight full- time drivers.SLA operates tractors and nine trailers on routes from Gloversville into New York City, Mr. Siegel said.</div>

TRUCKING BRIEFS

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">Unfit truckers may escape federal safety review if the government expands the commercial zones exemp</div>

Unfit truckers may escape federal safety review if the government expands the commercial zones exemp

<div class="phx-topic">Unfit truckers may escape federal safety review if the government expands the commercial zones exempt from federal regulation, a trucking trade group warned.The Regular Common Carrier Conference, which represents some of the nation's largest for-hire truck lines, told the Interstate Commerce Commission that deregulation changed the rationale for periodic expansion of commercial zones.Typically, trucking operations conducted within a city's metropolitan area constitute intrastate commerce and are not subject to federal regulation.However, because some local cartage involves crossing state boundaries, the agency historically has used the concept of a commercial zone to extend the exemption to those interstate operations and place all local trucking on an equal footing.The size of commercial zones, which extend geographically from a city's boundaries, depends on population.Last month, the agency said it was considering a further expansion of commercial zones, a step it has taken periodically over the years.In comments filed this week with the agency, the conference said it does not oppose expanding the zones. But the traditional reasons for broadening these exempt areas, the group maintained, no longer apply.Specifically, the conference noted zones were usually expanded to open entry to a larger group of carriers and improve price and service competition.But with the advent of trucking deregulation in 1980, rate and service competition abound in the trucking marketplace, the trade group said.Instead, by expanding the commercial zones, the conference added, thecommission may allow unsafe truckers to escape federal scrutiny.The agency, for example, must establish that a carrier is safe before granting interstate authority. If the exempt zones are broadened, the conference said, unsafe carriers could avoid commission review and still be allowed to operate.Similarly, minimum insurance requirements, which the commission also enforces, could be sidestepped.(This) would be contrary to the intent of Congress, the conference said, yet could occur lawfully within large commercial zones not subject to thecommission's jurisdiction.In its proposal, the agency stressed that expanding the commercial zones would not affect the applicability of motor carrier safety regulations, which are enforced by the Department of Transportation.Historically, DOT granted exemptions from its truck safety laws to carriers operating within the commercial zones. As the zones have continued to grow, however, DOT has declined to broaden the scope of its safety exemptions to prevent any reduction in truck safety.Creating larger zones will also make it more difficult for the commission to identify new or smaller truck lines. This could hurt DOT, which is trying to identify all trucking companies for purposes of issuing a government safety rating.The ICC-regulated carriers are readily identifiable, the conference said. Expansion of the commercial zones may increase the number of unregulated motor carriers who can escape federal safety audits.</div>

GROUP: EXPANSION MAY RISK SAFETY

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">Leaseway Shareholders To Vote on MergerLeaseway Transportation Corp. shareholders will vote </div>

Leaseway Shareholders To Vote on MergerLeaseway Transportation Corp. shareholders will vote

<div class="phx-topic">Leaseway ShareholdersTo Vote on MergerLeaseway Transportation Corp. shareholders will vote on a previously announced merger proposal June 16. The special meeting will vote on a $51 a share cash sale of the company to an investor group led by Citicorp Capital Investors Ltd.Leaseway, headquartered in Cleveland, also announced that it has received final Securities and Exchange Commission clearance for its merger proxy materials. These proxy materials will be mailed to shareholders of record as of April 24.Leaseway provides highway transportation and other distribution services throughout the United States and in Canada. These services include automotive distribution, common and contract carriage, retail distribution, warehousing and personnel leasing.One Fla. Dodge DealerBuys 'Out the Plant'WARREN, Mich., - Bob Dance, a Dodge car and truck dealer in Longwood, Fla., purchased a complete shift of Dodge Dakota pickup trucks produced by Chrysler Motors' Dodge City plant.Mr. Dance took delivery of the first of the 210 mid-size pickups during ceremonies here Wednesday morning.This is the first time in the history of Chrysler, and probably the domestic auto industry, where a single dealer has 'bought out the plant' - a total shift's volume of pickup trucks," said Jerome B. York, vice president- truck operations, Chrysler Motors. "Our new Dakota has been a hot property since its introduction last October, and Bob Dance is our No. 1 Dakota dealer in the Southeast. Rather than ordering 50 or 100 Dakotas for May, he went all out and bought the shift."The Dodge Dakota, the first true mid-size pickup ever built, has been instrumental in Chrysler Motors and Dodge Truck setting new truck sales records nearly every month since the Dakota was introduced.</div>

Use code GTW695 at checkout and save $800 on first year of an annual Gold subscription!

Upgrade Subscription - Gold Trials

Become a Gold Subscriber and Save!

Use code TPMGW595 at checkout to save $900 on first year of a Gold subscription and 20% on TPM26!

Upgrade Subscription - Wide Box

UPGRADE TO GOLD AND SAVE ON TPM26

Arm your team with the most trusted information portal for the international container shipping industry.

Group Subscriptions - Wide Box

Get into a group subscription today

Access Journal of Commerce content for 30 days

Free Trial - Wide Box

START A FREE TRIAL TODAY

Use code STSW20 at checkout to save 20% on the first year of any annual subscription! 

Subscribe Now - Free Trials - Wide Box

SUBSCRIBE AND SAVE

Choose a subscription plan that works best for you!

Subscribe Now - Anonymous - Wide Box

SUBSCRIBE TODAY

The world of LTL is slow to embrace change. Business anachronisms permeate current supply chain processes. These vestiges of the way things used to work define the LTL freight transportation procurement process of many modern shippers.David Knuth, logistics specialist at IEWC, a global supplier of cable and wire based in Wisconsin, is happy to have modernized the RFP process, automating the entire LTL bidding procedure with Bid$ense, SMC³’s automated truckload and LTL freight transportation sourcing solution. But when prompted, he can still recall what once was.In his previous job, a large part of his duties were consumed by creating an intermodal bid package for carriers. In a spreadsheet, Knuth detailed the company’s volumes lane by lane, taking care to delete any errant keystrokes or misleading data. He would then email out the information to each carrier, taking time to respond to detailed technical questions about the spreadsheet data. Finally, he had to compile all the results, create an algorithm that would compare the carriers on each lane, and award the business.“It was a huge undertaking. It took about four months to do,” Knuth said of the old process. “It was almost a full-time job for that part of the year, every year.”In his new job at IEWC, he sat down with Bid$ense on day one and was amazed at the capabilities. Knuth had never before used a bid tool. SMC³’s latest versions of Bid$ense automate the process even further, taking truckload and LTL RFPs entirely online. The tool draws on RFP best-practices protocols to streamline the bidding communication process, enabling bidding carriers to respond accurately and promptly to shipper requests. The solution also does all the distribution work automatically, electronically submitting shipper bid data to carriers based on their actual service capabilities and performance records. Carriers are alerted with timely prompts for RFP deliverables, so shippers aren’t waiting by the phone for responses.Another benefit of automating the process is the data-cleansing assistance. When Knuth sent spreadsheets to carriers, data errors might cloud the bidding process; he might have to resend data or simply accept a price that did not truly reflect the costs of doing business. Data cleansing is incredibly beneficial, he said.The spreadsheet technique also made bidding analysis an onerous task. Since Bid$ense automates and streamlines the entire RFP process, intensive examination is now simple. SMC³ knows that each bid has more than one best outcome. With uniform responses from each carrier, shippers can quickly rank results and create an unlimited quantity of what-if scenarios to make the optimal procurement decision.Jesse Burnett of Central Garden &amp; Pet experiences many of the same benefits. Founded in 1980, Central Garden &amp; Pet has spent the last three decades growing from a small garden supply company to a provider of a range of products from dog chews and bird seed to soil supplements and natural insecticides. For much of its life, the company shipped these disparate goods via LTL and truckload carriers to retailers throughout the country, relying on each business unit to negotiate directly with their freight transportation providers. This arrangement worked fairly well for a small company, but as Central Garden &amp; Pet expanded, leadership decided to consolidate decision making.Burnett helped centralize the transportation decision making in 2015 with SMC³’s Bid$ense. Before Bid$ense, every business unit operated independently as far as negotiating with carriers.“There were a lot of different things just floating around,” he said. “We didn’t have master agreements in place; no national pricing at all. The pricing from carriers was just all over the place, depending on where you were.”The transformations he saw with Bid$ense were immediate. Burnett has been using the tool about every other year since its implementation at the company. Central Garden and Pet’s $19.6 million 2019 LTL bid saved the company just more than 9 percent when compared to its historical average. For Burnett, though, bid automation extends far beyond savings.“We knew that we weren’t getting the best pricing offer from our carriers just because nothing was centralized,” he continued. “We knew that if we combined everything from all these business units and paired it with one corporate offering, then it would drive some cost benefit with it.”When the company initially decided to centralize bid procurement, executives researched a number of different methodologies and technologies. In the end, though, Burnett found that Bid$ense was both widespread and well known, and that his carrier partners already knew how to use the application. Burnett also highlighted the data-cleansing process as a major benefit, saying the rigorous process ensures that carriers always return the best price.“It definitely has helped drive savings,” he said. “Any time you go out there and you drive that competitiveness with the carriers and they know they’re in a bid environment, it seems to sharpen their pencils.”Transportation procurement is an integral part of the modern supply chain. With Bid$ense, shippers can develop a strategic implementation plan that saves them time and money, but also helps them create strong relationships with their carrier partners. These carriers appreciate the solution’s data-cleansing process; when carriers receive a complete shipment history and future volume forecast, they don’t have to guess on pricing. Carriers that receive more data from shippers get a complete picture of that shipper’s freight, allowing them to accurately plan instead of simply preparing for the worst-case scenario. Clean data presented through an automated system can lead to both bigger shipment savings and a lasting partnership between carrier and customer.Whether customers are looking to streamline over-the-road transportation bidding by automating the RFP process or create an entirely new, centralized sourcing process, Bid$ense has the analytical horsepower to get the job done.SMC³ 2020 Customer Case Study

SMC3rates_shutterstock_5247046.jpg

Shippers save money, time with automated transportation bidding tools

If there’s one immutable truth in the world of logistics, it’s this: LTL is an inherently complex form of transportation. Tariffs, rates, DIM weights, transit times — it’s enough to confuse even seasoned logistics professionals. The solution to this knowledge gap has historically been on-the-job training or university supply chain education, but for a variety of reasons there is now a pressing need for third-party, remote LTL training that prepares logistics workers for transportation success. Global Scope Can Overlook Local Intricacies In the past, professionals looking to move into a supply chain career learned about the basics of supply chain from universities. However, many of these college supply chain programs are now global in scope, focusing on worldwide supply chain management instead of the intricacies of specialized domestic transportation. And even these programs, which used to be widespread, are becoming less common. LTL is not an industry of broad-brush strokes; supply chain professionals really need a pointillistic understanding of the logistics of LTL in order to excel in the industry. Accelerating Need for Dedicated LTL Education This lack of specified training put the onus on employers to prepare new hires with the LTL knowledge needed to do their jobs. Dedicated LTL study is a necessity, not a luxury. At the same time, changes in LTL and the broader supply chain world are accelerating. The reliance on e-commerce has ballooned since the start of the pandemic, and last-mile LTL shipments and related e-commerce strains on the supply chain won’t diminish once social distancing abates. That genie isn’t going back into the bottle. So supply chain employers need logistics workers that are fully versed in all aspects of the industry, ready to solve unique shipping and delivery problems based on their extensive supply chain knowledge But why care about LTL? It’s been reported that some shippers in today’s world are no longer concerned with what mode is used to ship their goods. A Multimodal Approach Ensures On-Time Delivery This mode agnosticism means supply chain stakeholders have to be well versed in all modes of transportation. As unforeseen weather events and other disruptions, such as protests, become more common, savvy logistics employees will need to be armed with familiarity of all modes, not just the most popular, to ensure that freight is delivered on time, without damage, and in the most financially expedient way possible. Offerings like SMC³’s LTL online education courses cover a wide range of topics from LTL basics and operations to more advanced concepts like pricing analytics and transportation law. The company also has plans to continually refresh content, adding new expert presenters and taking the feedback of students to make the courses even better as time goes on. Learn more about&nbsp;<a href="https://logisticstrainingcenter.com/smc3-courses/" rel="noreferrer" class="joc_admin__link">SMC³’s LTL Online Education program</a>&nbsp;and view the 2021 hybrid schedule, featuring live industry experts,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.smc3.com/onlinelearning2021/" rel="noreferrer" class="joc_admin__link">here.</a>

SMC3rates_shutterstock_5247046 (1).jpg

Filling the Supply Chain Education Gap with LTL Education Courses

UPGRADE TO GOLD AND SAVE: Use code GTW695 at checkout and save $800 on first year of a Gold subscription!

Upgrade Subscription

SUBSCRIBE AND SAVE: Use code STSW20 at checkout to save 20% on first year of any annual subscription!


Subscribe Now - Free Trials - Offer Box

GET INTO A GROUP SUBSCRIPTION: Arm your team with unlimited Journal of Commerce content

Group Subscriptions - Offer Box

Group Subscriptions

SUBSCRIBE TODAY: Choose a subscription plan that works best for you!

Subscribe Now - Anonymous - Offer Box

Subscribe Today

UPGRADE TO GOLD AND SAVE ON TPM26: Use code TPMGW595 at checkout to save $900 on first year of a Gold subscription and 20% on TPM26! 

Upgrade Subscription - Offer Box

START A FREE TRIAL: Access Journal of Commerce content for 30 days

Free Trial - Offer Box

Free Trial

Monthly publication providing an editorial deep dive into global supply chain news

Journal of Commerce Magazine - Rectangle Box

Journal of Commerce Magazine

An in-depth analysis of transport trends in the multipurpose and heavy-lift fleet segment

Breakbulk Report - Rectangle Box

Breakbulk Quarterly

Customers scoring their intermodal partners to identify the best service providers

Intermodal Service Scorecard - Rectangle Box

Intermodal Service Scorecard

A must-attend conference for shippers & logistics providers moving goods inland

Inland Conference - Rectangle Box

Attend Inland25

A premium access index of savings using domestic intermodal vs. OTR 

ISI Report - Rectangle Box

Intermodal Savings Index

An extensive dashboard of charts organized by trade lane, mode, and topic

Gateway - Rectangle Box

Gateway

A premium access outlook critical to shippers and transportation providers

QI Report - Rectangle Box

Quarterly Intelligence

The Journal of Commerce’s trucking news and analysis encompasses full truckload, less-than-truckload (LTL), private fleet trucking, refrigerated trucking, regulation, drayage, and transloading. Reporting centers on pricing, volume demand, capacity, labor, regulation, and service levels in US and Canadian trucking networks.

Truckload

Truck brokers

Flatbed

Trucking labor

Trucking News | Journal of Commerce

The Journal of Commerce’s surface transport news and analysis focuses on landside transport movement — from railroad news to trucking news — including full load trucking, less-than-truckload (LTL), refrigerated (or reefer) trucking, flatbed and domestic and international intermodal rail, and how it connects with seaports, inland rail hubs, distribution centers and transloading operations. Reporting on the surface transport sector covers the movement of domestic shipments within the United States and international cargoes transported via domestic equipment including trailers and 53-foot containers.

Stay updated with our rail transport news and trends. Journal of Commerce covers intermodal news, and port connectivity news in the container rail transport sector.

Rail News | Journal of Commerce

Rail News

Explore the world of ground transport news - from trucks to railroads, intermodal connections, and port ties. Daily insights on US and global shipments.

Trucking News

Subsections

The latest Trucking News & Analysis

WEEKLY TRUCK TONNAGE INDEX

TRUCKING BRIEFS

GROUP: EXPANSION MAY RISK SAFETY

TRUCKING BRIEFS