Business

About Business News...

Transport Topics business coverage focuses on the financial, economic, and commercial aspects of the modern freight business. Looking at both the microeconomic and macroeconomic forces shaping bottom lines, the news in this category includes labor news, jobs reports, tonnage and sales indicators, operations analysis, money and banking, mergers, acquisitions, e-commerce, bankruptcy, insurance issues, and more.

Business

Retail Sales Take Biggest Jump in Seven Months

October U.S. retail sales jumped 1.2%, the biggest gain in seven months, the Commerce Department said Monday.

November 15, 2010

Best Trucking Software 2024

For growing asset-based carriers, ensuring you have the right trucking software is essential for managing fleets, optimizing operations, and winning more higher-paying loads.

Business

Changes in LTLs’ Vocabulary Illustrate Improving Business

Unfamiliar words such as “stability” and “price increases” are creeping into the less-than-truckload sector’s vocabulary these days, after a turbulent two years of rate cutting, market-share swings and some astronomical losses.

November 15, 2010
Letters to the Editor, Business

Letters: Keeping LTL Drivers, Still Not Made in USA, Weight Limits

I read with interest the letter from Colin Young about keeping less-than-truckload drivers — especially the part about management thinking it should take you only so long to go from point A to point B, without taking into consideration traffic flow during different parts of the day or other unforeseen circumstances.

November 15, 2010
Editorial, Business

Funding Infrastructure Improvements

It just shouldn’t be this difficult. Here we are with virtually everyone involved agreeing that there is a major problem with the country’s aging infrastructure that needs to be addressed, and quickly.

November 15, 2010
Business, Logistics

TT Logistics 50: Shippers Seek Ways to Meet Market Demands, Deal With Capacity Constraints by Using 3PLs

Demand for logistics services is on the rise after falling sharply in 2009, as shippers look for ways to meet shifting market demand and deal with looming constraints in freight-hauling capacity.

November 15, 2010
Fuel, Business

Deficit Panel Leaders Propose Increase of Federal Fuel Tax by 15 Cents

The co-chairmen of a bipartisan presidential commission created to find ways to reduce the federal deficit last week called for gradually raising the federal fuel tax by 15 cents a gallon, beginning in 2013.

November 15, 2010
Business

Truckers Applaud Virginia Program Creating More Driver Rest Stops

The trucking industry applauded an announcement by Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell (R) that he has launched a pilot program to use undeveloped, state-owned property alongside highways as rest areas for truck drivers.

November 15, 2010
Government, Business, Technology, Equipment

JBS Carriers Ordered to Install EOBRs on All Trucks as Part of FMCSA Deal

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration said it has ordered JBS Carriers of Greeley, Colo., to install electronic onboard recorders on its roughly 700-truck fleet.

November 15, 2010
Business, Logistics

Intermodal Shipments Climb as Container Imports Surge

Intermodal shipments in the third quarter of 2010 erased recession-related volume losses, climbing 20% from a year ago as container shipments of imported goods surged, the Intermodal Association of North America reported.

November 15, 2010
Business, Logistics

Mileage Lawsuit Involving Swift Transportation May Proceed as Class Action, Judge Rules

A lawsuit in Phoenix involving truckload carrier Swift Transportation Co. and mileage calculations reignites the topic of how carriers, shippers and drivers compute distance driven and then bill for it.

November 15, 2010