Economic Watch: Manufacturing Solid, Construction Disappoints

U.S. manufacturing activity in July remained solid, according to two reports issued on Aug. 1. Meanwhile, separate reports showed overall construction activity in the U.S. eased as consumer spending and personal incomes barely improved.

The Institute for Supply Management's manufacturing index registered 56.3, down 1.5% from June but still well above a level the level of 50 that indicates expansion in this segment, which makes up about 12% of the U.S. economy.

This latest reading was just below a consensus estimate from analysts, but showed manufacturing is continuing to build on June's gain with a return to expansion not seen since 2014, according to CNBC.

Comments from the survey of supply managers generally reflect expanding business conditions, with new orders, production, employment, backlog, and exports all growing in July compared to June, as well as supplier deliveries showing improving and inventories unchanged during the period.

Of the 18 manufacturing industries, 15 reported growth in July.

Meantime, a separate report on manufacturing showed a solid improvement in operating conditions while the upturn in business conditions was largely driven by marked and accelerated expansions in both output and new orders.

The seasonally adjusted IHS Markit final U.S. Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index registered 53.3 in July, up from 52 in June. Like the ISM report, a reading above 50 indicates expansion.

Production at U.S. manufacturers increased for the fourteenth month running in July while new orders received by US manufacturing firms grew at a solid pace, recovering from the nine-month low seen in June.

“The only real blot on the copybook was a decline in exports for the first time since last September,” said Chris Williamson, chief business economist at IHS Markit “However, although rising, the survey indices remain consistent with only very modest increases in comparable official data such as manufacturing output, durable goods orders and payroll numbers.”

He said the ...Read the rest of this story

Minimizer Offers Custom Floor Mats for Western Star Trucks

Minimizer has released five more Custom Molded Floor Mat kits designed for model year 2016-2018 Western Star trucks.

The Custom Molded Floor Mats are designed for a precise fit and the latest release ensures that Minimizer is offering options for nearly every recently released Western Star truck. The company also has plans to update its selection of floor mats for International trucks.

Minimizer currently offers floor mat options for Freightliner, Volvo Trucks, Western Star, Mack, Peterbilt, Caterpillar, International, Kenworth, and Sterling.

“We want every truck on the road to be outfitted with Minimizer Floor Mats,” Kruckeberg said.

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Earnings Watch: Schneider Profit Rises 5.2%

Trucking, intermodal and logistics services provider Schneider National Inc. on Aug. 1 reported that its second quarter profit increased 5.2% from a year earlier while revenue improved 8.1%.

Net income totaled $46.5 million as earnings per share fell to 27 cents from 28 cents. Adjusted earnings totaled 23 cents per share, meeting Wall Street expectations.

The increase in revenue to $1.075 billion was largely attributed to the June 2016 acquisitions of carriers Watkins & Shepard and Lodeso, higher fuel surcharge revenue, brokerage growth, and revenue generated from the company's equipment leasing business

“We are pleased with our performance in the second quarter and reported overall results that were in line with what we had expected across all three of our businesses, including a number of key customer wins that we anticipate will help set the stage for our results in the second half of 2017,” said Chris Lofgren, CEO.

Schneider's truckload segment reported revenue excluding fuel surcharge of $543 million, a 4.5% improvement from a year earlier while income from operations fell 13.7% to $53.2 million.

Inflationary driver costs and lower gain on sale of equipment due to the continued weakness in the used equipment market were partially offset by earnings improvements from effective fleet sizing, freight selection, and improving market conditions throughout the quarter, according to the company.

Intermodal segment revenue minus fuel surcharges increased 3.8% to $194.3 million while income from operations decreased 17.7% to $11.2 million.

The hike in Intermodal revenue minus fuel surcharges was due to a 10.6% increase in intermodal volume partially offset by a 6.2% decrease in revenue per order, according to Schneider. Intermodal revenue per order was $1,858, a decrease of $123 compared to second quarter 2016 due to growth in the East and Intra-West, which have shorter lengths of haul, and the continued competitive pricing environment.

Schneider's logistics ...Read the rest of this story

AeroFlap cleared of patent infringement claim

Fleet Engineers announced it received a favorable judgment in the matter of Fleet Engineers Inc. v. Tarun Surti and Mudguard Technologies LLC.

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Purkeys provides solar tech options for trucks

Fleets can now take advantage of solar equipment to charge batteries in both trucks and trailers. By working closely with clients and trucking industry leaders, Purkeys announced it has created two product lines, the Solar Bolt and Solar Dash, to solve problems fleets encounter in their daily operations.

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Doing the math on the ELD mandate

Talking about the electronic logging device (ELD) mandate these days is like opening up Pandora's Box – a lot of negatives come screaming out, with the lid slammed shut before “hope” gets a chance to escape.

In the eyes of many within trucking, the ELD mandate is nothing but a burden – a significant extra cost that can't be recouped via “savings” such as by jettisoning pencil and paper recordkeeping.

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FMCSA program allows carriers to challenge crash preventability

Today the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) will begin accepting proposals from commercial motor carriers for its crash preventability demonstration program.

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