Surface

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.

Subsections

The latest Surface News & Analysis

Speed At the Border

William B. Cassidy |

UPS Freight is extending its reach across the U.S.-Canadian border by shortening transit times between major Canadian cities and U.S. markets.<br /> <br />

Trucking NewsLTL

Revival at the Border

William B. Cassidy |

Detroit’s Ambassador Bridge, the busiest U.S.-Canadian border crossing, handled far fewer trucks than usual last year, as the recession drove the number of commercial vehicles using the span dow

Trucking NewsLTL

Driver Pay: A Century-Old Issue

William B. Cassidy |

Driver pay has been a factor in driver shortages since at least 1914, when a publication called Motor Truck reported, “Nearly all employers complain of the great difficulty of securing drivers w

Trucking NewsTrucking labor

Wrestle at the Trestle

Rail freight shippers and the largest U.S. railroads are increasingly on a collision course over rules that could govern their market for decades to come.<br /> <br />

Rail NewsTransport, Trade, and Regulation News

Year of the TIGER

The Obama administration is making big down payments on a wide range of major freight projects around the country with its latest $1.5 billion in transportation grants.

Rail NewsTransport, Trade, and Regulation News

Trucking’s Driver Dilemma

William B. Cassidy |

After last year’s massive layoffs, tens of thousands of truck drivers are unemployed, and more trucking bankruptcies are expected as the nascent recovery takes root. <br /> <br />

Trucking NewsTransport, Trade, and Regulation NewsTrucking labor

Bunning Pay-Go Stance Triggers DOT Crisis

Transport, Trade, and Regulation NewsTrucking News

Oberstar Takes Shutdown as Incentive

R.G. Edmonson |

Transport, Trade, and Regulation NewsTrucking News

IBM to Deploy Traffic Congestion Technology

William B. Cassidy |

IBM is launching an initiative to break traffic congestion bottlenecks. <br /> <br />

Transport, Trade, and Regulation NewsTrucking News

Major DOT Programs Face Shutdown

Major surface transportation programs at the Department of Transportation were in danger of shutting down starting Monday after a senator raised objections to final passage of a short-term extens

Transport, Trade, and Regulation NewsTrucking News

FMCSA Readies Driver Screening Program

William B. Cassidy |

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is kicking off a program that eventually will let trucking companies review drivers' safety and crash records before hiring them.<br /> <br />

Clean-Truck Plan Goes to Trial

Bill Mongelluzzo |

After almost two years of litigation and appeals, U.S. District Court Judge Christina A.

MaritimeTrucking laborForwarding

Fitch Gives New YRC Bonds Low Rating

William B. Cassidy |

By issuing a news series of bonds to pay off $45 million in near-term debt, YRC Worldwide "reduced the likelihood of a default in the very near term," said Fitch Ratings. <br /> <br />

Trucking NewsLTL

Lawmaker Calls for Nationwide Mileage Tax Test

William B. Cassidy |

A test of a vehicle mileage tax in Oregon should be extended nationwide in the next surface transportation bill, Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., said today.<br /> <br />

Transport, Trade, and Regulation NewsTrucking News

Rail Traffic Improves After Storms

Freight traffic for major U.S.-owned railroads improved after two storm-stunted weeks, but remained below the pace of the last half of January.<br /> <br />

Rail NewsNorth-American rail

Norfolk Southern to Build Corridor Hubs

Norfolk Southern Railway hopes to begin construction by July on new intermodal terminals in Memphis, Tenn., and Birmingham, Ala., now that it has a large stimulus grant to help pay for them.<br />

Rail NewsNorth-American rail

Senate to Act on Short Line Tax Credit

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid told short line railroad officials the Senate will act on legislation next week that includes a renewal of an expired tax credit for track repairs for small railroads

Truck Tonnage Shoots Up

William B. Cassidy |

Trucking is "clearly in a recovery mode," with the American Trucking Associations' truck tonnage index showing its strongest increase since January 2005 last month.<br /> <br />

Truck Pricing in Canada Seen Stabilizing

William B. Cassidy |

Canadian trucking costs appear to be stabilizing, but at a level nearly 10 percent lower than a year ago, according to an index based on less-than-truckload and truckload rates.<br /> <br />

Trucking NewsLTL

UP, CSX Team Up On Domestic Intermodal

CSX Transportation in the eastern United States and Union Pacific Railroad in the West will soon be jointly marketing a domestic intermodal service in jumbo-sized containers.<br /> <br />

Rail NewsNorth-American rail

Rails Cut U.S. Jobs in January

The seven largest U.S. railroads shed 1,116 jobs in January, bringing their total workforce to a new low of 145,609 positions.<br /> <br />

Rail NewsNorth-American rail

YRC Closes Debt Financing Deal with New Bonds

William B. Cassidy |

YRC Worldwide yesterday closed the first part of a deal that will pay off $70 million in unsecured debt that wasn’t eliminated in its $464 million debt-for-equity swap.<br /> <br />

Trucking NewsLTL

Truck Drivers Blast Talk of U.S.-Mexico Pact

A group representing independent truck drivers accused Mexico of “economic bullying” while arguing against allowing Mexican truckers to operate in the U.S. <br /> <br />

Transport, Trade, and Regulation NewsTrucking News

Profit Jumps 300 Percent at Echo Global Logistics

William B. Cassidy |

A 65 percent leap in shipment volume helped Echo Global Logistics increase revenue 47 percent and quadruple its profit in the fourth quarter, despite falling transportation rates.<br /> <br />

Trucking NewsTruck brokers

YRC Worldwide’s Reddaway Cuts Transit Times

William B. Cassidy |

YRC Worldwide’s Western subsidiary Reddaway is cutting transit times throughout its network to increase next-day and two-day delivery options for shippers.<br /> <br />

Trucking NewsLTL

Cummins to Pay $2.1 Million Penalty to EPA, CARB

William B. Cassidy |

Engine maker Cummins will pay $2.1 million for a costly supply chain error. <br /> <br />

Diesel Price Soars 7.6 Cents

Thomas L. Gallagher |

Diesel prices across the United States jumped 7.6 cents over the past week, the first increase in six weeks, to their highest point since the middle of January, the U.S.

Intermodal Takes Separate Tracks

The North American intermodal business is developing a split personality.<br /> <br />

Rail NewsTrucking NewsForwarding

Rail Bill Meets Big Chill

Rail NewsTransport, Trade, and Regulation News

Con-way Seeks New Balance

William B. Cassidy |

Con-way Freight is starting 2010 by strengthening its sales organization as it tries to bring pricing and profit into line with higher less-than-truckload freight volume. <br /> <br />

Trucking NewsLTL

Wicked Weather Snaps Operations

Call it a lost week for a major slice of the U.S. economy and transportation network.<br /> <br />

Transport, Trade, and Regulation NewsTrucking NewsRail NewsAir Cargo

Berkshire’s BNSF Eyes the Horizon

As soon as BNSF Railway’s shareholders approved the planned takeover by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway on Feb. 11, the railroad’s CEO began to fire away at Wall Street.<br />

Drawing the Line

Bill Mongelluzzo |

BNSF’s top intermodal executive concedes the western railroads have permanently lost much of their East Coast market share to all-water container shipping services from Asia, but Steve Branscum

MaritimeRail NewsContainer linesForwarding

DHE Buys Locally, Grows Globally

William B. Cassidy |

The nascent economic recovery is beginning to fuel consolidation in trucking, as healthier carriers expand their networks by buying up smaller competitors and niche players.<br /> <br />

Trucking NewsLTL

Did Snow Blow Truckload Rates Higher?

William B. Cassidy |

Snowstorms that slammed the country in early February may have boosted rates for truckload carriers by freezing capacity, according to analysts at Morgan Stanley.<br /> <br />

Strong Short Line Traffic Beats Weather

North American short line railroads carried some of the strongest traffic levels in months even during storm-tossed February, as cargo loadings were consistent with a spreading recovery in the broader

USA Truck: 'We're Not Related' to USA Carriers

William B. Cassidy |

A similar name can cause the kind of confusion USA Truck wants to avoid.<br /> <br />

Domestic Intermodal Grew in Fourth Quarter

A late-year need to refill store shelves and replenish other stocks after a “historic inventory drawdown” helped boost intermodal traffic in the fourth quarter and push domestic volume sli

IANA Sees Intermodal Gain as Truck Surplus Fades

The return of growth in freight shipments this year may erase the surplus of trucks this summer and push more business to combined rail-truck intermodal shipments, the Intermodal Association of North

Railcar Makers ARI, US Railcar Team Up

In the midst of a massive contraction for the North American freight car industry, equipment builder American Railcar Industries said it has formed a joint venture with US Railcar to produce self-prop