Bulk Freight News & Industry Updates - Stay Ahead in Trucking

Just before noon on Thursday, December 29, 2022, reports of a tractor trailer hauling grain crashing off MO-126 near State Route M in western Barton County alerted the Missouri State Highway Patrol. Tpr S. Carpenter of Troop D tells us the driver of the hauler was not injured in the crash.

A semi truck careened off of Interstate 10 in Tucson on Tuesday after the driver passed out at the wheel. The accident happened on December 27th in Tucson, Arizona on Interstate 10 near Valencia Road. According to News 4 Tucson, the trucker was driving along I-10 wh

US shippers of grain, food and other products expect to face better prospects for logistics in 2023, hoping much of the COVID-induced issues are in the past as well as a nationwide strike by railroad workers that was averted by legislative action.

But compared to the trucking bloodbath of 2019, the industry hasnt seen a wave of large firms declaring bankruptcy. Trucking companies, instead, seem keen on expanding. Hiring activity, according to federal data that tracks preemployment queries for commercial drivers, has actually increased. Federal employment data reflects that trucking payrolls have increased by around 55,600 drivers, or a 3.6% increase, from January to November.

The Illinois Farm Bureau has significantly increased funds earmarked for commercial drivers license scholarships in 2023 to $100,000. President Rich Guebert tells Brownfield their members have been widely impacted by trucking shortages.

U.S. Representative Dan Newhouse says livestock haulers have different needs than other truckers because of the live cargo theyre carrying

Our rundown of OOIDAs biggest accomplishments in celebration of the Associations 50th anniversary continues with a look at hours of service. Through an onslaught of proposal and rulemakings, OOIDA has consistently had one goal at front of mind: providing truckers the flexibility to do their job.

When Carl Johnson founded City Dray Line in 1920, the Prohibition era had just begun, Warren G. Harding was elected president, and car production was starting to ramp up to meet the demands of middle-class Americans. The trucking industry as we know it today was in its infancy.

Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration data shows the number of monthly net operating authority revocations in 2021 surpassed the most recent pre-pandemic peak in 2021. The current figure is roughly double 2019. But that doesnt mean each revocation resulted in a truck hitting the used market.

Lance Lillibridge, a farmer in east central Iowa, knows farmings ups and downs. He has been in this business since he was "knee-high to a grasshopper" and is the first of a family of farmers to own his land. But he said the sharp increase in fertilizer prices this year has put him in a challenging position.

One of the biggest problems in trucking is the way some shippers, receivers, brokers and others coerce truckers into situations where they end up violating the regulations. Of course, if things go south, its the trucker who faces the consequences. However, OOIDA some years ago fought to get a regulation on the books to combat that. Well find out how it all happened from Jay Grimes of OOIDA.

The $1.7 trillion Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023, is an omnibus spending bill that combines 12 appropriations packages, including $106 billion to fund the U.S. Department of Transportation. Congress is expected to approve and pass the 4,155-page bill by the end of the week to avoid a partial government shutdown before the Christmas holiday.

The Atlantic Grains Council, Christian Farmers Federation of Ontario, Grain Farmers of Ontario, Grain Growers of Quebec, and Ontario Bean Growers are calling on the federal government to send the estimated $34.1 million paid in fertilizer tariffs up to June 30, 2022 directly to those farmers who paid it.

Heads of some publicly traded companies, including U.S. Xpress and Werner, suggested that smaller carriers could falter given market challenges. CEOs noted issues such as lower spot rates along with higher fuel costs and interest rates.

Several trucking companies, logistics firms and cold storage providers are collectively owed millions of dollars after an Iowa-based frozen meat importer filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection recently. South American Beef Inc., headquartered in West Des Moines, filed its petition in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Iowa last week.

In addition, continuing discussion about a coming recession isnt inspiring confidence. On Dec. 14, the Federal Reserve raised its benchmark interest rate for the seventh time in 2022, this time by a mere half percent. The good news is that the increase was only 0.5% instead of the .75% amount of the previous four jumps, purportedly indicating that inf

Firefighters were battling a fire at The Andersons Inc. Hemlock elevator and storage facility, 485 S. Hemlock Road, for more than 13 hours that began Sunday night. According to Richland Township Fire Chief Jeremy Scott, firefighters from 29 different departments from across and outside of Saginaw County had the blaze 95% contained as of 11 a.m. Monday, Dec. 19.

In August 1997, the Teamsters walked off the job at UPS Inc. in the first non-wildcat strike in the relationships long history. With an all-Teamsters labor force and no plans to call in replacement workers to deliver goods, UPS shuttered its massive U.S. ground delivery network rather than risk permanently damaging its reputation with customers.

"We have closed a few origination facilities in North Dakota due to travel concerns in the area," the spokesperson said, including "a few grain elevators and a few edible bean facilities."

And maintaining a truck is an expensive endeavor. And the stress of doing that is made all the worse by the economics of trucking right now, with low rates and high fuel costs, among other factors. And while most truckers are keeping up, is everyone?

New-truck, maintenance costs could sideline fleets, harm economy, industry warns

When I first met Missouri-based Jared Flinn, operating partner of the BulkLoads.com load board specializing in bulk freight, that business was at the two-guys-in-a-basement stage, following Flinns work trucking himself a little, then managing logistics for a big commodities outfit

Earlier emergency orders have been extended in Georgia for supply chain and oversize permits and in Nebraska for driving hours hauling fuel. Citing the ongoing need for relief due to regional fuel shortages, acting Gov. Mike Foley signed Executive Order 22-07 on Dec. 1 temporarily authorizing drivers in Nebraska to work extended hours when transporting diesel, biodiesel, gasoline or gasoline blends, fuel oil, ethanol and propane. Gov. Pete Ricketts (who was on overseas travel Dec. 1) issued t

A historic drought on the river has shuttered the critical node of barge transportation, leaving farmers and other shippers searching for alternative options to get their goods to port before winter. From the waterhead in Minnesota down to the port in New Orleans, barges deliver over 60 percent of corn and soybean exports and around $100 billion worth of cargo every year, including fuel, grain, industrial chemicals, and building materials.

Water shortages, supply chain issues, inflation create challenges, almond industry leaders say.

Grain contracts and the problems many farmers had during last years drought were discussed during a panel discussion at the Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan (APAS) annual general meeting in Saskatoon on Friday.

On Feb. 27, 1992, Stella Liebeck ordered a 49 cent cup of coffee from a McDonalds drive-thru in Albuquerque, New Mexico. What happened next forever changed trial jury awards and has had a lasting impact on multiple industries across the U.S., especially commercial transportation.

The Biden administration has released $36 billion in bailout money for the Central States Pension Fund (CSPF) that will go toward protecting the pensions of over 350,000 workers, including drivers who work for or have retired from less-than-truckload carriers Yellow and ABF Freight. The money was authorized within the Butch Lewis Pension Plan Relief Act of 2021, legislation that was rolled into the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan signed into law by President Joe Biden in March last year.

An explosion and fire at an agricultural plant Thursday in eastern Iowa has caused injuries and an evacuation of people near the operation. The explosion and fire happened about 11:15 a.m. in Marengo at a plant owned by Heartland Crush, a soybean crushing company. Hours later, the fire continued to burn.

Relief would apply only to daily and weekly hour-of-service limits

The sudden closure of a furniture company has left an Alabama trucking company as well as many others waiting to reclaim their property.

John R. Coleman, 46, of Greenwood, Mississippi, is the former CEO of Express Grain Terminals, LLC.

President Joe Biden on Friday signed into law a resolution intended to avert a freight rail strike, based on an agreement reached between some rail unions and freight rail companies.

Staying in the agricultural hauling business means meeting weight regulations. Blue Ink Tech, a leader in trucking technology, has released the most recent addition to its BIT Full Service Platform: the BIT Air Scale, which gives ag and cattle haulers access to real-time weight information on their phone or tablet.

Its not just Snowman's classic black-and-gold throwback paint scheme from Smokey & the Bandit on owner-operator John McCormick's beautiful rig thats all behind the name. The owner-operator christened the rig "Bandit" more than a year after he first purchased it working through the MHC Kenworth dealer in Springfield, Missouri.

Another driver requests exemption from parts of HOS regs For the third time this year, a truck operator is seeking an exemption from certain provisions in the hours-of-service regulations. Owner-operator Lee Schmitt requested and was later denied an exemption from four provisions of the regs, and operator Ronnie Brown III, whose petition is still pending, requested an exemption from the HOS regs and the ELD rule.

Arizona authorities seized $39,500 in cash from Johnson in August 2020. The money, according to Johnson, was to buy a used truck at auction. But police thought he had transported it on a flight from North Carolina as part of a drug deal and confiscated the funds.

Family-owned Mid Continent Trucking of Denison, Iowa, notified drivers and employees recently that after 24 years, the refrigerated carrier was ceasing operations two days after Thanksgiving because of worsening economic conditions and tumbling freight rates.

Technology companies supplying critical semiconductor chips to the economy have started shifting cargo shipments from railroads to trucks with a national freight rail strike looming. The moves are being made, DHL Global Forwarding tells CNBC, in an effort to avoid any pre-strike rail preparations that would force freight rail companies to prioritize cargo.

Cargill and Owensboro Grain Company, a fifth-generation family-owned soybean processing facility and refinery located in Owensboro, Ky., announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement where Cargill will add Owensboro Grain Company (OGC) to its North American agricultural supply chain business.

A handful of farm groups have been rejected in their effort to exempt truckers hauling live animals from federal mandates limiting the hours a driver can be on the job.

Each insurance company has what you might call an appetite. If we do not fit into an insurance companys appetite, they wont provide us insurance. For example, Progressive is not able to provide insurance to any trucking company that hauls loads requiring placards.

Representing strength and endurance, the Mack truck was born in 1900 with the first vehicle by Jack Mack and family at the Mack Brothers Company in Brooklyn, N.Y. Except it was a bus. And didnt have the classic bulldog emblem yet.

Freight demand has declined due to persistently high inflation, labour shortages and overstocked shelves.

A Missouri requirement is costing the trucking industry time and money. The federal government requires truckers to get physicals every two years. Brent Witte, with Witte Brothers Exchange in Troy, says many states let truck drivers submit this information online, but not in Missouri.

For years we've been hearing about a persistent shortage of truck drivers. But what if we're thinking about it wrong? What if the issue is that the shipping industry systematically mistreats or undervalues drivers, creating an ongoing and unsustainable churn?

Isaac Instruments is one of Canadas largest providers of trucking telematics. Isaac is also making a push into the U.S. market. The companys core offering is a tablet that functions as an electronic logging device. ELDs are required in North American trucks. They ensure that drivers are abiding by hours-of-service laws. In the U.S., that means no more than 11 hours of consecutive driving in a 14-hour period.

A proposal meant to revolutionize roadside inspection by requiring fleets and owner-operators to equip their trucks with a new electronic identification system was roundly rejected by much of the trucking industry.

Union leaders said Monday they believed that a compromise could still be reached to avoid a work stoppage that could disrupt the flow of goods around the U.S. Four out of 12 unions have now rejected the proposed contract, while the other eight have ratified the deal. Both sides have agreed to a cooling-off period until early December.

We are laser focused on providing the most affordable coverage for bulk freight haulers. We have live and breathed both sides of the business and are passionate about giving our clients the attention they deserve. Contact us and I promise you won't be disappointed. Jared Flinn

Ocean shipping demand is traditionally measured in ton-miles: volumes multiplied by distance. So, heres a paradox: Ton-miles for liquefied natural gas shipping have fallen in 2022, because most cargoes from the U.S. are being pulled to war-stricken Europe instead of going longer-haul to Asia. And yet, LNG shipping spot rates have skyrocketed to Guinness Book levels of up to $500,000 per day.

Jar

CHS Co-op and ADM along the Mississippi River front in Winona were very busy this past week at the peak of the 2022 harvest. Barges were being loaded and grain trucks were unloading.

A slowing economy and deteriorating freight conditions are already baked in the cake, according to Mullen Group senior executive officer Murray Mullen. But its small operators wholl face the greatest challenges as deteriorating conditions are met with rising costs.

Among them was a representative from The Truckload Carriers Association, who wrote that ELDs should be required on as many trucks as possible, including rebuilt or remanufactured engines or glider kits that can accommodate ELD technology. FMCSA should push for expanded ELD adoption, because it is an important tool to track compliance for the hours-of-service regulations, which were designed to improve safety.

American farming increasingly relies on software to keep the U.S. the worlds top food producer. But all that reliance on code-driven machinery has drawn ransomware attacks that could prove particularly devastating during harvest.

The California Air Resources Board is considering a proposed regulation to phase out big rigs and other trucks with internal combustion engines and replace them with zero-emission vehicles.

Federal regulators have attempted to clarify differences between brokers, bona fide agents and dispatch services in new interim guidelines issued Tuesday by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. Mandated by last years infrastructure bill, the guidelines are aimed at cracking down on companies that engage in truck brokering but without proper authority from FMCSA, an issue that brokers claim illegally undercuts their business.

Over the years I realized there weren't any books to teach kids about the importance of trucking and agriculture. I started sketching ideas which led to these books. I have one released on Amazon you can order by clicking on the link. If you can't afford one let me know and I'd be happy to get one dropped in the mail for you to give to your child, grandchild, niece, nephew, etc... Thank you and God Bless! Jared Flinn

Utah-based Savage recently was recognized as one of the 2022 Top Companies for Women to Work For in Transportation by the Women in Trucking Association. Savage, a provider of industrial logistics infrastructure and supply chain services, is one of several companies that provide bulk transportation on this years list, which includes Dupr Logistics, Highway Transport, Prime, Inc., Quality Carriers, and Schneider. WIT planned to honor all 100 companies at its Acceler

3.6% of the company's workforce has been let go.

In this episode, Jared continues his discussion with Michael Belzer. In thi