Trucking a key to autonomous vehicles: Spear

Daseke Goes Public via Merger with Hennessy Capital Acquisition

Don Daseke

Flatbed fleet operator Daseke Inc. became a public company on Feb. 27 by completing its previously announced merger with Hennessy Capital Acquisition Corp. II (NASDAQ: HCAC, HCACU, HCACW). The deal included HCAC changing its name to Daseke, Inc. The company expects that, effective Feb. 28, its common stock and warrants will begin trading under the ticker symbols “DSKE” and “DSKEW,” respectively, on the Nasdaq Capital Market.

Daseke calls itself “a leading consolidator of the highly fragmented $133-billion open deck freight market in North America.” Since it launched in 2009, the company has grown revenue both organically and through acquisitions from $30 million to more than $650 million (estimated) in 2016. That represents a compound annual growth rate of approximately 55%.

Daseke said it believes it is the largest owner of open deck equipment and the second largest provider of open deck transportation and logistics solutions by revenue in North America. Across its nine trucking companies, it fields approximately 3,000 tractors and 6,000 trailers. The company serves customers in the U.S., Canada and Mexico through more than 40 terminals across the U.S.

“Our vision from the start was to become a public company so we could have access to the capital markets in order to continue our focused consolidation strategy,” said Daseke Inc. Chairman and CEO Don Daseke. “We believe we have an acquisition pipeline that could enable us to double Daseke's adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization over the next three years, and we believe this business combination positions us to meet our 2017 consolidation objectives.”

He pointed out that Daseke holds “less than a 1% share of this highly fragmented open deck freight market, and we believe we have a tremendous opportunity for future growth and continued market penetration.”

Daseke also advised that the merger supports the company's approach ...Read the rest of this story

Diesel Prices Creep Upward for Third Straight Week

Source: EIA

Diesel prices in the U.S. crept upward last week, continuing a three-week streak of modest increases, according to the latest numbers from the Energy Department.

The average price of on-highway diesel fuel increased by half a cent last week, hitting $2.577 per gallon at the pump. The price is now nearly 59 cents more expensive than it was in the same week of 2016.

Across the country, prices were up or flat, depending on the region. The largest increase hit the Rocky Mountain states at 3.4 cents per gallon. The smallest change was seen in both New England and the Gulf Coast, where prices were flat for the week.

The average price of regular gasoline in the U.S. was up 1.2 cents last week, rising to $2.314 per gallon at the pump. The price is currently around 53 cents per gallon more expensive than it was a year ago at this time.

Gasoline prices varied up and down regionally with the largest increase hitting the West Coast at 4.6 cents per gallon. Prices were down by 2.4 cents per gallon last week in the Central Atlantic region.

The crude oil market saw more of the same as of the morning of Feb. 28, as offsetting forces from Middle East and U.S. oil production have kept prices from increasing or decreasing significantly for months now.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries has so far complied with its agreement to reduce or freeze oil production to meet lower global demand and improve prices. However, by bringing prices up from the lows seen in 2016, U.S. oil production has rallied, dampening crude oil pricing gains expected from the OPEC deal. According to a report on CNBC.com, oil drillers in the U.S. were operating 602 rigs last week, the most since October. ...Read the rest of this story

Economic Watch: GDP Performance Unchanged; Durable Goods Rebound

The widest measure of the nation's economy performed as first estimated in the final quarter of last year despite a jump in consumer spending, according to a new assessment released Tuesday. Meanwhile,orders for long-lasting durable goods rebounded somewhat in January.

The U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) increased at a rate of 1.9% in the final three months of 2016, according to the second of three estimates from the Commerce Department, the same rate as the reading from a month earlier. This latest reading is a little below what Wall Street analysts were expecting and compares to a rate of 3.5% in the third quarter of 2016.

According to MarketWatch, GDP was held down by the U.S. trade deficit even as “consumer spending rebounded strongly,” up 3% versus the earlier estimate of 2.5%, which it said should bode well for the overall economy in the coming months as household spending accounts for up to 70% of all economic activity. In contrast, the rise in the trade deficit cut total GDP growth in half and was also was offset by weaker government spending and business fixed investment.

“The upward revision to consumer spending indicates strong momentum in the household sector toward the end of the year, but a more modest increase in business investment is somewhat discouraging, leaving less evidence of rebalancing in domestic growth toward the end of last year,” said Josh Nye, economist at RBC Economics Research. “While the latter trend is less positive than previously estimated, we continue to expect nonresidential investment will pick up modestly this year alongside improving business sentiment, supplementing another strong contribution to growth from consumer spending.”

This follows a separate report from the Commerce Department on Monday showing new orders for durable goods in January increased 1.8% from the month before following ...Read the rest of this story

Cummins program extends oil drains for X15

NASHVILLE. A free oil analysis program that individually tailors oil drain intervals to a fleet's operating characteristics has been introduced by Cummins for its 2017 X15 Series heavy-duty engines. Using both actual engine performance data and oil analysis, Cummins OilGuard can safely extend those intervals out to 80,000 miles, according to Mark Ulrich, director of customer support.

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Webinar: Trump and trucking regulations – What you need to know

Marking a major shift in government after eight years, President Trump and his administration have come onto the scene promising changes and a different approach. What will it mean for fleets and trucking?

What's coming on the regulatory front this year — and what's likelier to see any adjustment? How about regulations being developed?

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EROAD: ELD available commercially

NASHVILLE. EROAD announced at the 2017 TMC Annual Meeting & Transportation Technology Exhibition the commercial availability of its Electronic Logging Device (ELD).

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