Articles
Trucking
Spot Truckload Rates Trending Up
National average spot truckload rates for van and flatbed freight rose during the week ending May 20 while the rate for spot refrigerated freight remained at its highest mark since January, said DAT Solutions, which operates the DAT network of load boards. The number of available loads on DAT load boards increased 5.4% compared to […]
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Electrifying Big Truck Fleets
Hyster Company is testing high capacity lift trucks with electric motors. The company suggests that, in the near future, ports and heavy industry will be able to electrify their big truck fleets, producing zero emissions while achieving comparable full shift performance. “Using a modular approach and innovative technology, applications will soon have maximum flexibility when […]
Read MoreATA Seeks Trucking Industry’s Future Leaders
American Trucking Associations opened the application window for its premier industry leadership initiative, LEAD ATA. Heading into its fifth year, LEAD ATA is searching for the 2018-2019 class of diverse trucking industry leaders looking to grow their careers and meet other ambitious trucking professionals. “LEAD ATA continues to be an avenue for trucking professionals to […]
Read MoreATA Searching for Trucking’s Greatest Advocates
American Trucking Associations started its search to find and honor trucking’s greatest industry advocates with this year’s Mike Russell Trucking Image Award. “The trucking industry has seen increasing respect in Washington in recent months, but we still have work to do on improving the image of our industry throughout North America,” said ATA President and […]
Read MoreCommentary: Are ELD’s All That Bad?
By December 2017, The Federal Motor Carriers Safety Administration (FMCSA) will require every motor carrier to implement an electronic logging device (ELD). The ELD connects directly to the engine’s electronic control module and records vehicle data including ignition status, geographic location, mileage, and current speed. ELD technology will replace the manual logging of Hours of […]
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Commentary: 8 Sustainable Freight Trends Smart Supply Chains Need to Embrace
Sustainability in the freight industry has sometimes been treated as a necessary evil: something to be balanced against profit margins and industrial growth. However, the most sustainable solutions offer efficiency from both an operational and environmental perspective. Those are the ideas that save money, increase performance, and steward environmental resources most effectively. The following eight […]
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From the Front Lines to the Boardroom
David Congdon was 14 when he joined the family business: less-than-truckload (LTL) carrier Old Dominion Freight Line. “I started working on the dock in the summer,” he says. “Making $1.65 an hour beat the heck out of a $3 weekly allowance.” MORE TO THE STORY: Next Step: Advanced Algorithms At 16, Congdon started traveling to […]
Read More3 Green Measures Your Fleet Provider Should Be Taking
These tips help reduce the environmental impact of fleets.
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Alaska: Conquering The Last Frontier
Alaska has much to offer. It encompasses nearly 600,000 square miles, is home to one of the largest oil fields in North America, and boasts breathtaking scenery. It also presents logistics challenges and requires experienced service providers to weather any storm.
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Truck Driver Health Should Drive Business Decisions
Truck drivers are vital to the flow of the supply chain yet this key resource is being drained at an alarming rate. The average life expectancy for long-haul truck drivers is 61 years. As the current truck driver workforce ages and with fewer young people choosing a career as a truck driver, it leaves the […]
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Trends—March 2017
Freight Rails Make Federal Case for Funding Private funding for infrastructure is a valuable tool that can save money for the American taxpayer, but it isn’t a be-all, end-all solution to U.S. transportation problems. Transportation executives took to Capitol Hill in February 2017 to plead with the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation subcommittee to provide […]
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Today’s Competitive Supply Chain: Digital, Smaller, More Resilient
Historically, the supply chain and manufacturing industry has been relatively slow to embrace the opportunities presented by the digital revolution. Technology is advancing quickly, and it’s time to buck this trend. Whether it’s recognizing the crucial strategic strength and impact offered by the Internet of Things (IoT), taking advantage of the dramatic increase in automation, […]
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Why the ‘Shareconomy’ Is the Future of Logistics
The idea of a global shared economy—which has given rise to businesses such as Uber, Lyft, and Airbnb that share resources among user bases—is projected by PwC to generate revenue of at least $335 billion by 2025. An increasingly popular concept made possible by new technology platforms, fueled by the idea of collaborative consumption, the […]
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6 Simple Metrics for Tracking and Improving Carrier Performance
While transportation service providers vary in size and ability, having an overall strategy to track carrier performance can drive long term operational and financial stability. By relying on simple data captured over time, over the road shippers are better positioned to make informed decisions on the fly or in future bids to ensure their desired […]
Read MoreLeveraging Your Routing Guide
A routing guide plays an important role in setting the strategy for carrier selection. It is essentially a shipper’s guide to choosing a carrier to move a particular shipment. While there are many forms of routing guides, an increasing number of companies switched from paper to online portals and beyond to enhanced transportation management system […]
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Trends—January 2017
Amazon continues to rattle nerves in the transportation sector. In 2015, the company launched a fleet of branded trucks to help shuttle cargo between facilities. In 2016, it leased 40 cargo jets, and Amazon China registered as a U.S. freight forwarder. These moves made third-party logistics (3PL) and trucking companies understandably anxious, considering that Amazon […]
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Cloud Collaboration Increases Supply Chain Efficiency
Defined as the art of working together to produce or create something, collaboration has become a focal point for organizations that want to work smarter, better, and more efficiently in today’s competitive business world. Enabled by technology, companies and individuals are working together to achieve common goals, open new lines of communication, and foster both […]
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The Slow, Steady Decline Of the Owner-Operator Model
Today, we face the slow extinction of independent owner-operators. These self-reliant business owners are dealing with a myriad of regulations that will soon make the owner-operator model impractical, and its survival improbable. Of the 3.5 million truck drivers in the United States, about 350,000 are owner-operators, according to the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association. If you […]
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Baseball Logistics: Hitting a Home Run Every Trip
Off the diamond, truckers and clubhouse staff work tirelessly to execute the logistics of Spring Training. Here’s how they achieve this Haul of Fame accomplishment.
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Trends—December 2016
Happy New Year! Time for Your Annual Supply Chain Health Check Throughout the course of 2016, your supply chain was plugging away, receiving and handling new product lines, efficiently fulfilling e-commerce orders during slow times and peak periods, dealing with returns, and processing shipments to your stores and/or retail customers to ensure timely and accurate […]
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