Every year, Fleet Owner gets a chance to talk with Roger Snider – one the premier photographers working in and around the truck industry – about his annual show truck calendar, Chrome & Elegance; a creation now in its fifth year, forged in collaboration with Rockwood Products.
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...Read the rest of this storySource: U.S. Census Bureau, Advance Monthly Sales for Retail and Food Services, Seasonally Adjusted
">Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Advance Monthly Sales for Retail and Food Services, Seasonally Adjusted
">Retail sales are important – not just to the overall economy, but also to trucking – and the game is changing big-time, possibly thanks to an entire generation.
About two-thirds of U.S. economy is driven by retail sales. Compare that to around 12% for manufacturing. As for why it's important to trucking, surely you've heard the line, “If you bought it, a truck brought it.”
The good news is retail sales, including food service sales, were up 2.8% in July from a year earlier. The bad news is that when you compare July to the month before, sales were flat, following a second quarter in which sales increased at a 4.2% annual rate.
This could just be a blip, but others note this may be the beginning of a whole paradigm shift in American spending habits.
Online sales are booming, meaning the traditional patterns of distributing and selling goods isn't the only game in town. In the second quarter, e-commerce sales totaled $97.3 billion, up 4.5% from the first quarter. And e-commerce sales were up 15.8% while total retail sales moved up just 2.3%. E-commerce as a percent of total sales was 7.5% in the second quarter versus 6.6% a year earlier.
In other words, people are still spending. They just aren't doing it the same way they used to – and that has some retailers scared.
In August, department store giant Macy's said it would close around about 100 stores, cutting its footprint by around 15%, to strengthen its presence as an “omnichannel shopping destination.” The move was greeted with a thumbs-up by many analysts. Retailing behemoth Walmart recently bought online retailer Jet.com for $3.3 billion to increase its e-commerce presence and broaden its audience.
There's another way spending is changing. According to ...Read the rest of this story
The NAFA Fleet Management Association has given affiliate members the ability to vote and serve on its national board, the fleet management association announced.
The move broadens leadership opportunities with the association for professionals who are not directly involved in the management of fleet vehicles.
NAFA's members approved the move by a margin of nearly 15 to 1, with 93% of respondents voting in favor of the changes.
"This has been a long time coming," said Ruth Alfson, CAFM, NAFA's president. "NAFA's bylaws had remained virtually the same since the day NAFA was incorporated in 1957, so it is about time we recognized our affiliates as the valued partners they are. Besides that, though, this is the right strategic move for NAFA to make."
As part of the move, NAFA has made many changes to its bylaws. The changes redefine who qualifies as a member and supplier, and sets up a new membership category called regular member for individuals directly involved in fleet management. Other membership categories include associate members (formerly affiliates), honorary members, and retired members. Associate members can now hold up to five of the 13 board roles.
The move also creates a leadership advisory board to help direct NAFA's strategic efforts that replaces the former board of delegates and board of governors. The immediate past president will now be designated as the chair of the nominating committee.
NAFA will form a nominating committee later this month to select candidates for four open board seats. Eligible individuals will be able to submit their names to the committee for consideration.
The board election will take place in January, and the new board will take office in February. The board will then elect a new president, senior vice president, vice president, and secretary/treasurer. The sitting NAFA president will be named the immediate past president.
Related: NAFA I&E ...Read the rest of this story
Photo: Pegasus TransTech
">Photo: Pegasus TransTech
">Pegasus TransTech, an enterprise mobility and business process automation provider, has added TMW Systems as a Transflo Mobile integration partner. TMW Systems is a provider of software to transportation and logistics operations.
Through the integration, carriers that use TMWSuite are able to use a progressive task management format and two-way messaging capabilities from the TMS directly in Transflo Mobile.
It also adds load and routing information from TMWSuite that would otherwise only be sent to a mobile communication device in the vehicle. The integrationhas been certified by TMW Systems.
“As we work with other software partners, our goal is to make it easier for clients to achieve more from their chosen technology,” said Salem Elnahwy, vice president of development at Pegasus TransTech. “Creating easy, convenient mobile experiences is at the heart of what we do, and our collaboration with TMW Systems extends those benefits to a greater number of clients.”
Complementing existing mobile communications functionality, the integration improves operational efficiency and fleet-to-driver engagement. The new feature set is immediately available to joint users of Transflo and TMW Systems. Demonstration of the software will take place during the upcoming in.sight User Conference + Expo 2016, to be held from Sept. 25-28 in Nashville, Tenn.
“With integration to Transflo Mobile from TMWSuite, we are providing our clients an integration option that enables them to have visibility to their workflows outside of the cab of the truck,” said Jeff Graham, director of mobile communications and technology at TMW Systems.
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Related: 5 Steps to Higher Truck Productivity
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...Read the rest of this storyMap indicates location of 18 infrastucture projects awarded FASTLANE grants for FY 2016. Image: U.S. DOT
">Map indicates location of 18 infrastucture projects awarded FASTLANE grants for FY 2016. Image: U.S. DOT
">Secretary of Transportation Anthony Foxx announced on Sept. 7 that almost $800 million in inaugural FASTLANE federal grants has been awarded to 18 transportation infrastructure projects in 15 states and the District of Columbia.
In a call with reporters, Secretary Foxx said the grants will be combined with other funding from federal, state, local, and private sources “to support $3.6 billion in infrastructure investment.”
The FASTLANE grant program was established by the Fixing America's Surface Transportation (FAST) Act highway bill passed late last year.
The program is administered by DOT's newly launched Build America Bureau. Per DOT, the bureau will streamline credit and grant opportunities while providing technical assistance and encouraging best practices in project planning, financing, delivery, and monitoring of transportation infrastructure projects.
“The FAST Act gave us a set of tools to begin addressing America's infrastructure deficit, and we have been moving full speed ahead to get critical road, rail, and port projects off the ground across the country,” said Foxx. “From eliminating traffic bottlenecks and enhancing port capacity to overhauling a major freight corridor, the 18 inaugural FASTLANE grants will enable people and goods to move more efficiently.”
Among the projects that are receiving grants through the inaugural batch of FASTLANE awards are:
The Atlantic Gateway project in Virginia is a corridor approach to improving mobility across the Eastern seaboard. Combining a $165 million FASTLANE grant with public and private funding from multiple partners, DOT said it will improve and expand key segments of the corridor.The Oklahoma Department of Transportation will be awarded $62 million to improve safety and efficiency of high-volume freight traffic along the US 69/75 corridor in southern Oklahoma. The project will implement grade separations, remove railroad/local street crossing conflicts, and increase ...Read the rest of this story
