Senate told of safety, efficiency benefits of autonomous trucks

Truckers are playing a critical role as Florida and the southeastern United States begin the recovery process from Hurricane Irma.

Utility crews from around the country were converging on Florida to help restore electrical power to the millions of customers who face days - or even weeks - in the dark.

As several ports began to reopen for limited operations, there was a major emphasis on getting trucks hauling fuel loaded to alleviate shortages throughout the region.

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Analysis: Analysis: Why GDP Numbers Are Better Than You Think

When I started covering trucking in the early 1990s, it was common to hear economists define a healthy economy as one with gross domestic product growth of around 3% annually.

These days, however, when growth gets close to that “magic number,” it's greeted with a collective yawn — and it shouldn't, at least for trucking.

Despite oft-cited disappointment with the rate of recovery since the Great Recession, the fact is, an overheated economy can suddenly slow and can even turn negative after blistering performances such as the much larger spikes in the late 1990s and the first decade of the 2000s – you know, the period that led up to that recession.

The GDP, a total measure of the country's output of goods and services, increased at an annual rate of 2.6% in the second quarter of this year from the same time last year. This is sharply up from a paltry 1.2% increase in the first quarter. It's only the first of three monthly estimates for the quarterly GDP figures; typically the expectation is it will be revised slightly higher as Uncle Sam goes through more data.

For trucking, the second quarter GDP figures are a positive sign, according to American Trucking Associations Chief Economist Bob Costello.

“The good news is that consumer spending is decent and business investment is improving again, which will help trucking,” he told me. He believes the second half of this year looks even better, after the first six months of the year resulted in a 1.9% improvement in the GDP, compared to the 2.3% pace during the same time in 2016.

“I think the second half of 2017 should grow 2.8% on average, due to consumers, business investment, and residential investment,” Costello said. “Plus, the drawdown in inventories is getting closer to ending, which means it won't be a ...Read the rest of this story

Trucking Helps Push For-Hire Freight Movements to New High

Freight Transportation Services Index, July 2012 - July 2017. Graphic: U.S. DOT

The level of for-hire freight shipments in the U.S during July hit another record high, according to new Transportation Department figures, eclipsing two previous records set just earlier this year.

The Freight Transportation Services Index (TSI) increased 1.4% from the month before to a reading of 128.2, which 0.7% above the previous all-time high in May. This latest reading is up 2.7% from July 2016.

The June index was revised to 126.4 from 126.2 in last month's release. Monthly numbers for April and May were revised up slightly.

During the first seven months of 2017, the freight index averaged 2.9% higher than the first seven months of 2016.

The Freight TSI measures the month-to-month changes in for-hire freight shipments by mode of transportation in tons and ton-miles, which are combined into one index. It measures the output of the for-hire freight transportation industry with data from trucking, rail, inland waterways, pipelines and air freight.

The July increase in the Freight TSI was driven by gains in trucking, pipeline and water, while rail carloads decreased and air freight and rail intermodal were stable, according to the department.

The increase took place against a background of growth in several other indicators in July. Employment and personal income both increased, while the Federal Reserve Board Industrial Production index grew by 0.4%, with gains in mining and utilities even as the manufacturing index was down. The Institute for Supply Management's Purchasing Managers' Index showed positive but slowing growth. However, housing starts declined in July.

July was the third month in a row in which the Freight TSI exceeded the level of all months prior to 2017, and the fourth month in 2017 when it did. Since July 2016, the Freight TSI has reached or exceeded the level of 124.3, ...Read the rest of this story

FTR Conference: Expect ‘Sauntering’ Economy to Continue

"Sometimes growing stronger is also the next thing that leads to the next recession," said Dr. Larry Davidson, professor emeritus of business economics and public policy at Indiana University's Kelley School of Business. Photo: Evan Lockridge

Both an optimistic and a slightly pessimistic view of the economy kicked off the annual FTR Transportation Conference in Indianapolis Wednesday morning.

“We seem to have taken on – lock, stock and barrel – a new story called secular stagnation,” said Dr. Larry Davidson, professor emeritus of business economics and public policy at Indiana University's Kelley School of Business. “The story is this is the new economy, that we are going to have to put up with growth that's like we've had recently.”

In other words, don't expect the U.S. economy to pick up much steam over the annual growth that has been around 1.8% the past few years. Conversely, you shouldn't have to worry much about it slamming on the brakes hard anytime soon, according to Davidson.

He presented a number of economic yardsticks, both positive and negative, including showing how gross domestic product growth in the U.S. has slowed compared to historically higher levels, for a pace Davidson described as “sauntering.”

While this may seem bad, it's not, Davidson said. He pointed out that this slower pace of economic growth causes many to believe that a recession may be on the horizon. Yet the opposite is more likely true, he emphasized.

“One reason an economic recession happens is they come from shocks that no one anticipated,” he said. “It's the economic environment conditions that are going to determine when the next recession comes.”

Such shocks can come from anywhere, he said, pointing as an example to the 1970s when the price of oil quadrupled in a very short time. For something more recent, think of the U.S. financial crisis, ...Read the rest of this story

Perry: Hurricanes will reduce U.S. GDP 0.5%

Although it's too early to collect data regarding the economic impact from Hurricane Irma, which hit Florida this week, using the fallout from Hurricane Harvey's impact on Texas, Noël Perry, a partner at research firm FTR Transportation Intelligence and senior economist for Truckstop.com, sees significant impact on truck freight volumes ahead.

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4 Great Reasons to Add a Video-based Safety Program

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4 Great Reasons to Add a Video-based Safety Program (whitepaper)

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