Carriers Eye Higher Rates

img src="/sites/default/files/images/articles/printeditiontag_new.gif" width=120 align=right>Trucking companies announced a wave of rate increases and surcharges last week, as tightened fleet capacity sent shippers scurrying to find carriers to deliver their freight.

Truckload and LTL carriers and package-delivery giant United Parcel Service all said they would raise rates next year. Keeping up with higher costs is the most frequently cited reason for the price hikes and one company, Con-Way, said that the rising cost of crossing the border has led the LTL carrier to add a surcharge for hauling shipments to and from Canada.

Cutbacks in trucking capacity through a wrenching two and a half years of bankruptcies and closings have put surviving firms in a position to command higher rates, company executives said last week.