News
Senate to Vote on Highway Funding Proposal
February 7, 2012
By Oliver B. Patton, Washington Editor, Truckinginfo.com
Today the Senate Finance Committee is scheduled to vote on revenue provisions to supplement the Highway Trust Fund and pay for the Senate's proposed highway bill.
Passage of the measure will put in place a key provision for the Senate's plan to reauthorize the federal highway program with a $109 billion, two-year bill. The House, meanwhile, is working on a $260 billion, five-year bill.
In the absence of political will to raise fuel taxes, which go into the Highway Trust Fund as the primary source of road funding, both chambers are looking for additional money to fund their bills.
The House is considering a measure to raise money through leases for new drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and expanded oil shale development.
The Senate is considering a half-dozen items that would produce $9.6 billion in revenue for highways or offsets elsewhere in the budget.
The plan put forward by Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., chairman of the Finance Committee, begins with transferring money from the Leaking Underground Storage Tank Trust Fund to the Highway Trust Fund.
The LUST Fund, which was established in 1986 to help fix leaking fuel tanks, is fed by 0.1 cents per gallon of the federal fuel tax. The official estimate of how much revenue this would produce is not yet available.
In addition, the Baucus plan calls for ending a tax credit on so-called "black liquor," a byproduct of paper-making that is qualified as an alternative fuel. This would raise about $2.8 billion over 10 years.
Another provision would transfer the income from the gas guzzler tax to the Highway Trust Fund. That tax is imposed on cars that do not meet the federal 22.5 mpg fuel economy standard. The change would produce an estimated $697 million over 10 years.
Other elements in the plan include strengthening controls over tax collections by revoking the passports of individuals who owe more than $50,000 in back taxes, raising the penalty for tax delinquency by Medicare providers and transferring the proceeds from certain import tariffs to the Highway Trust Fund.
The Benefits of Dedicated vs. Line Haul
January 3, 2012
Typical transportation service agreements involve a single segment approach to load tendering. This type of a truckload agreement runs the risk of capacity shortages and/or price fluctuations during the peak shipping seasons. In this type of agreement the shipper will contact a carrier and give them the option to accept or reject an order. Depending on market conditions often times carriers cannot reposition equipment consistently to service key customers. Additionally carriers may demand additional revenues in times of limited capacity.
The most cost-effective way to buy transportation services is with a dedicated contract that insures the exclusive use and availability of equipment and personnel when needed. Typically in a dedicated service arrangement the shipper provides for the continuous movement of the carrier’s assets. For shippers who cannot provide return loads for their outbound shipments there are three different approaches to cover the carrier's costs on the return movement.
- The carrier may elect to return empty to the point of origin if time and utilization is a concern, in which case the return rate is usually lumped into the cost of dedicated service, this is a true exclusive use agreement.
- A second option for the return leg is a revenue sharing agreement where the carrier provides freight to bring the equipment back to the point of origin and shares a portion of the revenue with the dedicated shipper.
- A third option is more of a Soft Dedicated agreement where the origin shipper may pay slightly more for the service but the carrier will commit to provide capacity regardless of seasonal fluctuations and is responsible for returning the equipment back to the origin shipper as needed.
On Time Express can customize a dedicated package specific to your industry. Our specialists have extensive knowledge in a wide array of industry verticals and will have a full understanding of your company's needs. We will come to your location and provide an audit of your historical shipping lanes and volumes to come up with the most cost effective solutions to your most difficult challenges.
On Time Express employees are on hand twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week to solve problems, handle changes in demand, and emergency shipments – insuring on time delivery of your product. Let On Time Express show you the value of a quality transportation partnership and our unwavering commitment to being the best in the industry.
For more information on the services we offer please contact the Truckload Department at 866-668-4635.
Share The Road
November 18, 2011
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| DPS vehicles on the sides & rear of the trailer illustrate the blind spots |
Cliff Hassell, an award-winning, professional driver for On Time Express, spent the day on Thursday, November 17, 2011, working with area high school students through a program called, "Share the Road." The Share the Road program is a joint effort by the Arizona Department of Public Safety and the Arizona Trucking Association to help young drivers learn to safely navigate the roadways with trucks and buses.
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| Students wait for their turn to climb into the cab's driver's seat |
DPS officers talked with students about the need to respect trucks and buses on the roadways. An informational video about how trucks take wide turns, need a greater stopping distance, and have numerous blind spots helped students understand the needs of trucks on the road.
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| Cliff Hassell encourages the next student to sit in the driver's seat |
Students received a more "hands-on" lesson outside where DPS officers and Cliff positioned DPS vehicles to the sides and rear of an On Time Express truck to illustrate the blind spots truck drivers experience. One-by-one students climbed into the driver seat of the cab with Cliff sitting on the passenger side. Cliff took them through the steps of identifying the blind spots. He even quizzed them on the stopping distance, something that surprised many of the students.
Thank you, Cliff, and the ATA and DPS for this informative and valuable program.
For more information on Share the Road, visit ShareTheRoadSafely.org or the Arizona Trucking Association @ arizonatrucking.com.
You're Freight is Safe!
November 1, 2011
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| 01_Mr. Wild Wild West aka Robert |
Robert is serious about protecting our customers’ freight. He doesn’t need any of his cowboy props, though. Robert is deligent about routing freight, coordinating deliveries and montoring manifests to make sure everything gets to where it needs to be on time and in top shape. He and his crew keep the warehouse organized and things running smoothly.
Congratulations Robert on a great costume…and doing a great job for all our customers!
OTE Turns 14!
October 1, 2011
Employees of On Time Express gathered Friday, September 30, 2011, for a luncheon to celebrate the Company's anniversary. October 1 marks the 14th year of business for OTE. The Company has grown substantially from its modest roots as a local cartage company with only five employees to an international freight forwarder with over ten times the number of employees. Just one of the many reasons to celebrate the Company's milestone.
"It's our employees. It's their dedication to go above and beyond, put the customer first, work together as a team to cut costs to make sure our customers receive the best value," remarked President/CEO Bart Wilson. "I cannot say enough about the commitment to excellence shown by the entire On Time Express family. This team has helped us to not only weather the economic storm, but to grow stronger in spite of it. It's because of this that I see great things in the future for all of us."
Joplin Relief Effort
June 20, 2011
Storms and flooding have devasted several areas of the country this spring. One of the hardest hit areas, Joplin, Missouri, is also home to family and friends of On Time Express employees. When approached about the needs of the people of Joplin, On Time Express reached out to several business partners to gather requested items. Two weeks after the deadly tornado, OTE delivered a trailer filled with chain saws, pillows, blankets, towels, clothing and more.
Thank you to our generous business partners, such as Sportiqe Apparel, who stepped up to help. We continue to monitor the situation in Joplin and pray for their successful rebuilding efforts.
International Holidays Affect May Shipping Schedule
April 20, 2011
International holidays could delay shipments during May. Below is the list of countries and the dates when shipping will be shut down due to holidays in each respective country. Please plan accordingly.
| COUNTRY | MAY HOLIDAY DATE(S) |
| China | 1st and 2nd |
| Hong Kong | 2nd and 10th |
| India | 17th |
| Indonesia | 17th |
| Korea | 5th and 10th |
| Malaysia | 2nd and 17th |
| Singapore | 1st and 17th |
| Sri Lanka | 2nd, 17th and 18th |
TL Rates Trend Upward; No End in Sight
April 15, 2011
By Mark Montague, Industry Pricing AnalystDemand is up, capacity is tight. Result? Continued pressure on truckload rates. The pain - or gain, depending on your point of view - of rate inflation is being felt first and fastest on the spot market, compared to shippers' contract rates.
Although capacity shortfalls in the flatbed segment have been well reported, the van segment has actually been the one where rates have risen faster than any other over the past 15 months: van rates rose 10% in 2010 compared to 2009, while flatbed rates increased 4.4%. During that same period, reefer rates were up 6%. In the first quarter of 2011, van rates jumped 13%, while flatbeds increased by 11%. By comparison, in Q1 2011, reefer rates increased only 4% in advance of the peak season.
VAN - Spot market rates for vans were up by 4% in March, compared to February, and by 15% compared to March 2010. Van rates trended up across the country, led by Denver as well as two major California cities, Los Angeles and Stockton, which lagged in previous months due to severe weather that delayed the start of the spring produce season.
FLATBED - Rising rates in the flatbed segment were led in March by the Los Angeles market, with a 4.3% uptick. This did not include transcontinental lanes.
REEFER - Reefer rates increased by 2.2% for the month of March on the spot market, reversing a three-month decline. Outbound lanes from Dallas showed the most improvement, including lanes to Denver and Atlanta.
February Tonnage Rises 4.2%
March 28, 2011
U.S. truck tonnage improved from a year earlier for the 15th straight month, enough to allow fleet executives to pursue higher freight rates yet leave them with worries about how global events could hurt the domestic economy.
American Trucking Associations said its seasonally adjusted tonnage index rose 4.2% to 113.3 last month from 108.7 in February 2010.
However, the index declined from the January level of 116.6, and the preliminary report attributed the dip to severe winter weather.
The index, reported March 22, compares current activity to a base of 100 in 2000.
"I'm hearing a significant amount of positive news from fleets and that the largest concern continues to be the price of diesel fuel, not freight levels," said ATA Chief Economist Bob Costello.
The tonnage index is now back at pre-recession levels common in 2007 - it ranged from 110 to 116 that year - but Costello said it is still too early to proclaim the industry completed recovered. "Based on just tonnage, yes, we're darn close to it, but if you look loads hauled, that's not as robust. Loads have not come back as much," he said.
Source: Reiskin, Jonathan S. (2011, Week of March 28, 2011). Transport Topics, pp. 1
Truck Tonnage Surges 8%
February 28, 2011
Truck tonnage surged 8% in January from a year earlier, helped by continued growth in the manufacturing sector, pushing American Trucking Associations' tonnage index to its highest leve since January 2008.
The advance seasonally adjusted index reached 117.1, improving for the 14th consecutive month and rising at the fastest pace since April, ATA announced February 23. On a sequential basis, tonnage climbed 3.8% in January over December.
"Many fleets told us that freight was solid in January, although operations were a challenge due to the winter storms that hit large parts of the country," ATA's chief economist, Bob costello, said.
The index uses the freight volumes recorded in 2000 as the base level of 100.
Source: Watson, Rip. (2011, Week of February 28, 2011). Transport Topics, pp. 1
Diesel Rises 3.9 Cents to $3.573; Crude Oil tops $100 a Barrel
February 28, 2011
U.S. retail diesel prices continued to climb last week, rising 3.9 cents a gallon to $3.573, the Department of Energy reported, as crude oil topped $100 a barrel for the first time since October 2008.
Diesel has risen 13% in 12 consecutive weekly jumps. A year ago, the average cost of a gallon was $2.832, DOE's Energy Information Administration said after its February 21 survey of fueling stations.
The average cost of gasoline also continued to rise, jumping 4.9 cents a gallon to $3.189. It has risen in 11 of the past 12 weeks, and is 53.4 cents higher than the comparable week of 2010.
After closing at $86.20 a barrel on February 18 on the New York Mercantile Exchange, crude oil rose to nearly $101 on February 24 on worries about political turmoil in Libya, before closing at $97.28 that day.
Source: Reiskin, Jonathan. (2011, Week of February 28, 2011). Transport Topics, pp. 1
Trucking Blasts HOS Plan
February 21, 2011
Arlington, VA - The Transportation Department's new proposed hours-of-service rule is too complex, rigid, and would reduce the productivity of motor carriers, while making highways no safer, trucking industry and trade association executives and truck drivers told federal regulators last week.
Speaking at a Federal motor Carrier Safety Administration "listening session" on February 17, the industry representatives overwhelmingly agreed that the current hours rule is helping reduce truck-related traffic accidents.
FMCSA schedule the hearing after widespread industry objectives to last year's proposed revisions to the HOS rule, which was initially adopted in 2003. The 2003 rule, which revised the Depression-era regulation, lengthed allowed driving time one hour to 11 hours, cut the permitted work day to 14 hours and required a 10-hour break. It allowed drivers to "reset" their week after resting for 34 hours.
Source: Miller, Eric. (2011, Week of February 21, 2011). Transport Topics, pp. 1
Jobs Up 36,000 in January; Trucking Increases by 3,200
February 14, 2011
The United States added 36,000 jobs during January, and the for-hire trucking industry added 3,200 positions to its payrolls, the Department of Labor reported on February 4.
The report said the overall U.S. unemployment rate was 9%, the lowest since April 2009, down from 9.4% in December.
Total transportation and warehousing employment fell by 38,000 in January, "reflecting a sharp decline among couriers and messengers," Labor said. However, the gains in trucking boosted total employment for the industry to 1.259 million people.
Bob Costello, chief economist of American Trucking Associations, said January marked the 10th straight month of job creation within trucking, totaling 24,800 poistions.
Source: Kiel, Frederick. (2011, Week of February 14, 2011). Transport Topics, pp. 5
Diesel Jumps 7.5 Cents to $3.513 Pushed by Cold Wave, Egypt
February 14, 2011
Continuing cold weather across much of the United States and Europe and political unrest in Egypt helped push domestic fuel prices higher. The average retail cost of a gallon of diesel rose 7.5 cents to $3.513 a gallon last week.
The 10th straight weekly increase in diesel prices sent the fuel to a level 74.4 cents higher than it was during the comparable week last year, according to the Department of Energy.
In addition to the bone-chilling cold, fuel prices are rising because of "the political unrest in Egypt, where a lot of crude oil flows through the Suez Canal," said Brad Simons, president of Pathway Network, a subsidiary of Simons Petroleum, Oklahoma City.
The average price of regular gasoline increased 3.1 cents a gallon to $3.132, its ninth increase in the past 10 weeks, DOE reported February 7, after its weekly survey of fueling stations. Gasoline is now 48 cents more expensive than the comparable week last year, DOE said.
Over the past 10 weeks, diesel has climbed 35.1 cents a gallon, and gasoline has rise 27.6 cents.
Source: Kiel, Frederick. (2011, Week of February 14, 2011). Transport Topics, pp. 1
LTL 4Q Results Improve As Pricing, Tonnage Gain
February 14, 2011
Seven of the eight publicly traded less-than-truckload carriers reported improved financial performance in the fourth quarter, as pricing and tonnage gained across the industry, giving hope for better 2011 results.
Each of the carriers raised prices, measured in revenue per 100 pounds of freight. In addition tonnage rose.
"The positive change is that over-all most of the carriers are finding some pricing discipline," consultant Satish Jindel of SJ Consulting told Transport Topics on February 8.
Source: Watson, Rip. (2011, Week of February 14, 2011). Transport Topics, pp. 3
Diesel Fuel Prices On The Rise
January 14, 2011
The average price of U.S. retail diesel rose another 3.7 cents last week to $3.331 a gallon, the Department of Energy reported, or 26.4 cents higher than it was two months ago.
Diesel, which is at its highest level since October 2008, is also 53.4 cents above the comparable week of last year. Since remaining steady in early November, pump prices have skyrocketed.
The regular-gasoline price average increased as well, rising 1.8 cents to $3.07 a gallon, also its highest price since October 2008, DOE said after its Jan. 3 survey of fueling stations. The gasoline average is 40.5 cents higher than the corresponding week of 2010.
Source: Kiel, Frederick. (2010, Week of January 10, 2011). Transport Topics, pp. 5