Business

Without small brokers serving the industry, independent truckers would be at the mercy of a small, powerful group of large property brokers to secure their loads on the backhaul.

Commercial trailer producers received 19,579 new orders in April, a 71% jump from the same month last year, and the manufacturers’ backlog rose above 100,000 for the first time in the current recovery, ACT Research Co. said.

Insurance executives said they strongly support electronic logging but that use of the devices by truckers will not automatically lower fleets’ coverage expenses because carriers’ overall safety records dictate rates.

A portion of the Highway Trust Fund would be dedicated exclusively to a national freight highway network under a bipartisan transportation reauthorization plan being drafted by four U.S. senators.

American Trucking Associations joined more than 30 groups in asking a congressional panel to repeal a tax provision that would require governments to withhold 3% of their contract payments to businesses.

Less-than-truckload carrier Roadrunner Transportation Systems said May 31 it had bought refrigerated carrier Bruenger Trucking Co. in a deal that could be worth up to $13.6 million.

Fed by the international economic recovery and a weak U.S. dollar, North American truck makers are enjoying a sharp upturn in sales of heavy-duty trucks to the rest of the world, particularly Central and South America, Africa, the Middle East and Australia.

WASHINGTON — American Trucking Associations late last month moved its legislative affairs staff into its newly renovated and expanded office complex on Capitol Hill.

The average price of a gallon of retail diesel fuel in the United States declined 4.9 cents to $3.948, the fourth consecutive weekly drop, the Department of Energy reported.