In the post-pandemic world, many truckers find themselves in truck stops where restaurants have not yet re-opened. If they are open, they’re typically so short-staffed the delays can become frustrating. Gone are the days of home-style cooking at privately owned truck stops where everyone knew each others’ names. Today, many truck stops have been inundated…
After a relatively uneventful Atlantic hurricane season to date, the National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has upgraded its 2023 forecast through the end of November. This comes just as the first landfalling hurricane of the 2023 season slammed the Florida Gulf Coast. Scientists at NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center — a division of the National…
On a recent DAT Freight & Analytics show, we interviewed supply chain expert Professor Jason Miller from Michigan State University to discuss the outlook for the truckload sector in the coming year. Question of the week: What’s your outlook for the next 18 months in trucking? Jason Miller (JM): My best-case scenario for recovery would…
Traveling throughout Europe (EU), it’s hard to miss the continent’s largest semi-trailer manufacturer on major highways. Schmitz Cargobull is that manufacturer, with approximately 26% of the market. Krone is next on the list and the most innovative. Together, these two companies account for more than 40% of trailer production in the EU, making technological advancement…
There aren’t many occupations that do not provide immediate access to restroom facilities, except for the few in construction with temporary job sites lacking long-term facilities. One that isn’t temporary yet lacks adequate access to restrooms, if at all, is trucking. Drivers often spend as much as a quarter of their workday unloading and loading…
On a recent DAT Freight & Analytics show, we interviewed former owner-operator and industry expert Adam Wingfield from Innovative Logistics Group to discuss strategies carriers use to survive the soft freight market. Question of The Week: What should carriers do when brokers have turned them down for loads because they don’t have enough inspection data…
From the spectacular mountains of the Pacific Northwest to the myriad rock formations in New Mexico, truckers see some of the most impressive sights in America. Topping some lists of cool places to go is “The Caves” in Springfield, Missouri. Formally known as the Springfield Underground, an Erlen Group Company, is an underground industrial park…
Owner-operator and small fleet profitability defied all odds and improved in June due to rising spot rates and falling diesel prices. After several months of teetering on the edge of a 2019 repeat (when the trucking industry saw record numbers of bankruptcies), long-haul carriers breathed a sigh of relief last month. It could be short-lived,…
On a recent DAT Freight & Analytics show, we interviewed Grace Maher, COO at OTR Solutions, to talk about ways that carriers are handling the current soft freight markets and how factoring is helping them manage cash flow. Here’s an excerpt from the interview. Dean Croke (DC): How can factoring help carriers survive this soft…
Two years ago, DAT Freight & Analytics wrote about the significant shift in freight volumes into and out of the Phoenix market, traditionally known as a backhaul market for truckload carriers. The increase in outbound freight has been driven by the pandemic-driven shift in consumer buying patterns to more online retail purchases, which has driven…