Analysis: Freight Payment Index Offers Helpful Regional Benchmark

Regional quarter-over-quarter % change in spending. Source: U.S. Bank Freight Payment Index

If you want to know how your trucking operation is stacking up against other freight shipping businesses in the country, there is a new barometer available, and it offers some features that have not been seen before.

That was the message from U.S. Bank during the American Trucking Associations' annual Management Conference & Exhibition in Orlando in October as it announced its new quarterly Freight Payment Index – which actually is two indices.

One measures changes in shipment activity. The other is a gauge of changes in freight spending activity. Both are based on data processed through U.S. Bank Freight Payment, which processes around $23 billion annually in freight payments for some of the world's largest corporations and government agencies. (You can see the latest report online at www.freight.usbank.com.)

What makes this new gauge unique are two things: One, it breaks the data down into five U.S. regions, based on the state of origin for a shipment. And two, the analysis features commentary from Bob Costello, chief economist from the ATA and one of the most respected people in the field of analyzing both trucking and economics.

This first snapshot revealed just how much things can vary regionally.

For instance, the Northeast region saw the biggest gain in shipments, up 10% in the third quarter from the second quarter. It was helped by better manufacturing activity and slightly higher housing starts.

In sharp contrast, shipments in the Southeast, where activity is usually strong, saw just a 0.1% increase as Hurricane Irma disrupted the supply chain, following a 3.9% second quarter gain. However, at the same time freight spending jumped nearly 4.7% as truck capacity tightened as a result of the storm.

The Midwest led all other regions in overall freight spending, jumping 13.3% from the second ...Read the rest of this story

Optronics Expands Opti-Brite LED Headlamp Series

Optronics International has expanded its Opti-Brite LED Headlamp product lineup, adding a new five-by-seven-inch, combination high-and low-beam headlamp.

Like other headlamps in the Opti-Brite Headlamp Series, the new lamps are designed with a retroreflective LED light beam technology that enables them to project an optimized beam pattern. Opti-Brite LED headlamps feature a rear-oriented LED that faces backward toward a metallic parabolic reflector. The design allows it to exhibit high and low-beam characteristics and also features an LED conspicuity array in the center of the lens.

“Our Opti-Brite LED Headlamps are designed to enhance a vehicle's style as well as its operator's performance,” said Brett Johnson, president and CEO of Optronics International. “Engineered for an international OEM and aftermarket audience, our entire Opti-Brite LED Headlamp family is multi-volt compatible and FMVSS 108 and ECE/R10 compliant.”

Behind the headlamp's conspicuity array, Optronics' advanced reflector geometry emits a tightly controlled blue-white light beam that approximates the color temperature of the sun's natural light, according to the company. The light quality makes it easier for the human eye to see the road, which can improve safety and reduce eye fatigue.

The new headlamps are engineered to accommodate from 9- to 33-volt electrical systems and have an expected service life of 30,000 hours. Opti-Brite LED Headlamps feature Optronics' one-diode lifetime warranty protection, which will replace the lamp if even one diode fails.

The lamps are IP67 and SAE J575e rated for ingress protection and come complete with enhanced electromagnetic interference (EMI), electrostatic discharge (ESD) and power surge protection features. All have durable powder-coated, die-cast aluminum housings with tough polycarbonate lenses and a special coating that protects them against the elements and cracking, fading and yellowing from exposure to UV radiation.

Opti-Brite LED Headlamps come in four formats that fit a broad range of vehicle makes and models.Opti-Brite LED Headlamps come in ...Read the rest of this story

Daseke Adds Three More Flatbed and Specialized Carriers

TSH & Co. is one of three companies that recently joined Daske. It is a large flatbed hauler, primarily moving steel and industrial materials. Photo:Daseke

Tennessee Steel Haulers & Co., The Roadmaster Group, and Moore Freight Service have all joined flatbed and specialized transportation company Daseke, the company announced.

As a result of the additions, Daseke saidit is on track in 2017 to hit an annual revenue run rate of $1.2 billion, representing an annual growth rate of 59% in pro forma adjusted revenue since the company's first year of operation in 2009, when revenue topped out at $30 million.

“We've added three exceptional organizations to our family of operating companies focused on unique sectors with promising growth characteristics,” said Don Daseke, president and CEO of Daseke. “We are very proud to be consistent in our flatbed and specialized focus, while adhering to our conservative risk management philosophy, to achieve the growth goals that we presented to the market when we became a public company this past February.”

The Roadmaster Group is the parent company of Tri-State, a high-security cargo hauler. Moore Freight Service specializes in the hauling of sheets of commercial glass with highly customized trailers. Tennessee Steel Haulers & Co., is a flatbed hauler with a 100% owner-operator model .

“With the addition of TSH & Co., Daseke immediately becomes more asset-light in its fleet mix,” said Daseke. “With the combined owner-operators at TSH & Co., The Roadmaster Group, and Moore Freight Service, my estimate is that our asset-light mix run rate will be well-balanced at an estimated 50% by Dec.31, 2017. Those percentages exemplify our long-term strategic goal of managing a lower capital expenditure intensive, asset-right fleet mix.”

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Spot Truckload Freight Volumes Surge, Rates Remain Strong

Spot truckload freight volumes surged after Thanksgiving, as the number of loads posted on the DAT network of load boards jumped 64% for the week ending Dec. 2, according to newly release figures.

The large increase in loads and the 22% jump in truck postings is in line with expectations when you compare a long week to a shorter workweek, according to the freight-matching service provider. Also, strong demand for capacity pushed average national spot rates, including fuel surcharges, unseasonably high with vans and reefers averaging three-year highs in November.

• Reefer: $2.43 per mile, unchanged compared to the previous week
• Van: $2.09 per mile, up 2 cents from last week
• Flatbed: $2.30 per mile, up 1 cent from the week earlier

In the reefer market, the number of load posts jumped 55% while truck posts increased 12% last week, propelling the reefer load-to-truck ratio up 40% to 13.2 loads per truck. Several outbound reefer markets experienced double-digit average rate increases:

• Los Angeles, $2.14 per mile, up 25 cents
• Dallas, $2.31 per mile, up 10 cents
• Philadelphia, $3.17 per mile, up 25 cents
• McAllen, Texas $2.23 per mile, up 21 cents

Van load post activity increased 68% and truck posts gained 23% as retail goods made their way across the country from West to East. The van load-to-truck ratio jumped 37% from 6.8 to 9.3 loads per truck and rates moved higher in Midwest and Eastern U.S. markets as shippers position holiday freight near major population centers.

The average outbound van rate from Columbus, Ohio, added 9 cents to $2.66 per mile, Philadelphia gained 4 cents to $2.05 per mile, and Dallas increased a penny to $1.89per mile last week.

Flatbed load and truck posts increased, as expected, following the Thanksgiving holiday. The number of load posts gained 67% and truck posts 42%, which caused the load-to-truck ratio to rise 18% to 30.6 ...Read the rest of this story

FCCC Head Carson Named to Lead Western Star Trucks

David Carson Photo: Daimler Trucks North America

Daimler Trucks North America has announced that David Carson, current president of Freightliner Custom Chassis Corporation, has been appointed president of Western Star Trucks and chief diversity officer of DTNA.

Carson succeeds Kelley Platt in the role, who has been promoted within Daimler AG global to president and CEO of Daimler's Chinese truck joint venture, Beijing Foton Daimler Automotive.

“While we will miss Kelley's leadership and her significant contributions as a member of the Daimler Trucks North America operating committee, we are confident that David's dedication and proven track record as a leader position him well as the new leader of Western Star as we look to the future for the vocational truck brand,” said Roger Nielsen, president and CEO, Daimler Trucks North America.

In his role leading the Western Star team and the strategic direction for the company's commitment to diversity and inclusion, Carson will become a member of the company's operating committee. He was appointed president of FCCC in 2015, where he oversaw engineering, operations, and sales and marketing for DTNA's chassis business.

In her new role leading Beijing Foton Daimler Automotive, Kelley will report to Sven Ennerst, Truck Board Member for Procurement, R&D, and newly appointed for China. Beijing Foton Daimler Automotive is a 50:50 joint venture of Daimler and Chinese manufacturer Beiqi Foton Motor Company to produce medium- and heavy-duty trucks under the Auman brand.

“Kelley's leadership and dedication to our customers and to continuously improve will continue to be integrated into our company as we move forward,” said Nielsen. “We wish her the best of luck in China where she will bring a wealth of experience with her.”

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More power, pull for 2018 Ford Super Duty; F-450 4×2 joins range

FTR Appoints Vise as VP in Charge of Trucking Reports

Avery Vise Photo courtesy of FTR

FTR has appointed Avery Vise as its vice president, trucking research, responsible for the content of all trucking oriented reports, publications, and analyses.

Vise will also be tasked with developing relationships with customers, carriers, original equipment manufacturers, publications, suppliers, and financial groups for the transportation research analysis company.

“We are excited to have Avery join the FTR team. We have been looking to grow our internal research capabilities, and to focus on communicating this research more effectively to our customers and the industry,” said Eric Starks, chairman and CEO of FTR. “Avery's experience as a transportation analyst and journalist makes him well qualified to lead this initiative.”

Vise has more than 30 years of experience in the transportation industry as a journalist, analyst, and researcher. He was most recently the president of TransComply, a firm that assists trucking operations with regulatory compliance and best practices in freight contracting. Vise also was principal of TransAdvise, a firm that provided research, analysis, and consulting on the North American transportation market, duties that will now be done within FTR

Previously, he served as executive director of trucking research and analysis for Randall-Reilly from 2011 to 2013 and spent a decade as the chief editor of their Commercial Carrier Journal (CCJ) magazine).

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