What will be the Impact of the American Rescue Relief Bill on the Freight Industry?

What will be the Impact of the American Rescue Relief Bill on the Freight Industry?

4 years ago

Fifty-one days after taking office, President Biden signed into law the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Relief Bill, one of the most important pieces of legislation in the past 50 years. The bill is significant in many ways. It will put money directly into the hands of lower- and middle-income Americans, those most in need of […]

Crafting a Pandemic Recovery Plan

4 years ago

There is considerable euphoria in the trucking industry these days. The July 2020 issue of Broughton Capital Truck Freight Barometers® is entitled “Fasten Your Seatbelts! The Economy & Truck Marketplace are Poised to Surprise to the Upside.” The issue contains the following thoughts. “In all three modes, the Broughton Capital Truck Freight Barometers® are reflecting […]

We Need to Lead and Innovate our Way to a Business Recovery

5 years ago

As we watch the Covid-19 pandemic unfold, in real time, on our television and computer screens, we are observing major weaknesses in many of our essential institutions. Despite the warning from China at the beginning of this year, North Americans were unprepared for this pandemic. Before it even began, pandemic readiness work triggered by HIV […]

Where is the Freight Transportation Industry Headed in 2020?

5 years ago

2019 in Review After the hot freight market and record profits of 2018, many trucking companies added trucks and drivers to keep up with the expected shippers’ capacity demands in 2019. An index published by the Institute for Supply Management dropped to 47.2 in December, the lowest reading since June 2009 and the fifth straight […]

What are Some Lessons that Shippers Can Learn from the Past Two Years?

5 years ago

From a Freight Transportation perspective, the past two years have been among the most tumultuous in decades. Throughout 2018, an economic surge, a shortage of qualified drivers, and the implementation of the ELD mandate in the United States, created a shortage of freight capacity, particularly in the truckload sector. Shippers struggled to find trucks to […]

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Mid-Year Report on the Freight Transportation Industry

5 years ago

These are the major developments shaping the freight transportation industry in North America in the second half of 2019. 1. We are entering a period of Economic Uncertainty Despite a climate of record low unemployment levels, low inflation, a positive ISM manufacturing index and other encouraging economic indicators, the US Federal Reserve cut interest […]

The Truckload Freight Industry in North America in 2019

5 years ago

There are approximately 540,000 truckload carriers registered with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration in the United States. These range from 1 truck to 20,000 truck fleets. The majority have less than 20 pieces of equipment in their fleets. These companies generated approximately $350 billion in revenue in 2018. Revenue/Tonnage Growth in 2018 Here […]

Are We Heading Into Another Freight Recession?

6 years ago

Global Economic Outlook Early this month, the International Monetary Fund downgraded its outlook for growth in the United States, Europe, Japan and the overall global economy and pointed to heightened trade tensions as a key reason. U.S. trade talks with China continue without resolution, and there are indications that the rate of Chinese economic growth […]

Driver Compensation – The Devil is in the Details

6 years ago

Over the past few years, one of the defining challenges in the freight transportation industry has been a shortage of qualified drivers. In April of this year, I posted a blog (https://www.dantranscon.com/index.php/blog/entry/what-are-trucking-companies-doing-to-solve-the-driver-shortage ) that examined the range of compensation tools and benefits that are being offered to recruit and retain drivers. In another blog (https://www.dantranscon.com/index.php/blog/entry/trying-to-solve-the-driver-shortage-try-paying-them-a-salary […]

The New Realities of Procuring Freight Transportation Services

6 years ago

Those of us who came into the freight transportation industry in the 80s and 90s remember when there were distinct sets of service providers. There were small parcel carriers, LTL carriers, full truckload service providers and rail carload operators. Of course, during slow times, truckload carriers would move some large LTL shipments. The small parcel […]