Transport Topics

Preliminary North American Class 8 net orders in March came in at about 40,000 units, according to ACT Research. That figure is 424% higher than the COVID-impacted intake in March 2020. ACT Vice President Steve Tam characterized the March numbers as a retrenching from the more than 44,000 in February. But he noted that Class 8 demand was still showing excellent resiliency, even with supply chain c...

For the 2021 edition of our Top 50 Logistics Companies list, we’ve decided to use a different metric — gross revenue — to rank the largest third-party logistics providers in North America. That’s a departure from the methodology we used in years past, when we ranked companies on the basis of net revenue, which is gross revenue minus the cost of purchased transportation. With this new ranking syste...

Now that President Joe Biden has announced his plan to spend $2.25 trillion on infrastructure and other priorities, he has assembled a five-person sales team to help him garner support for the plan with the public and in Congress. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg is one of the five Cabinet members chosen by Biden. The others are Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm, Commerce Secretary Gina Ra...

President Joe Biden unveiled his administration’s ambitious public works plan yesterday, ending months of speculation about what would be included. The proposal totals about $2.25 trillion in spending, including $620 billion for transportation infrastructure and $580 billion for manufacturing. To pay for it, Biden has recommended increasing the corporate income tax rate to 28% from 21% and setting...

A bill designed to facilitate access to parking for commercial vehicles recently was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives. The Truck Parking Safety Improvement Act aims to mitigate a shortage of available parking nationwide. The bill was introduced by Illinois Republican Mike Bost, a member of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. The legislation is expected to be considered...

After nearly a week of blockage, the Suez Canal has finally reopened to containership traffic. Workers yesterday successfully set free the Ever Given containership that had been stuck sideways across the canal since March 23. The dislodgement surely was welcome news for supply chain stakeholders around the world, as the massive traffic jam had held up roughly $9 billion in global trade each day. W...

Truck makers say vehicle production is at risk as the demand for computer chips exceeds supply in a widening environment of supply chain disruptions. The semiconductor shortage arose when the demand for electronics increased during the COVID-19 pandemic, and was exacerbated by a fire at a chip-making factory in Japan that has forced it to close for several weeks. Volvo is implementing stop days th...

Trucking companies are continuing to boost compensation packages in efforts to meet the challenges posed by the pandemic and the ongoing driver shortage. Asset-based regional and national carrier Cargo Transporters, in one example, raised pay across-the-board for drivers in January. Still, the company had trouble getting drivers in the door. So, on March 17, the carrier introduced a new program de...

A giant containership has blocked up the Suez Canal this week, halting movement in one of the busiest trade routes in the world. The containership, which is longer than the Eiffel Tower is tall, ran aground in the southern part of the canal in Egypt. The mistake has gridlocked dozens of vessels as they attempt to transit between the Red Sea and Mediterranean. About 12% of global trade and 8% of li...

Severe winter weather took a toll on truck tonnage in February, according to American Trucking Associations data. The ATA For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index for the month declined a seasonally adjusted 5.9% compared with a year ago, and was down 4.5% compared with January. ATA Chief Economist Bob Costello said, “February’s drop was exacerbated — perhaps completely caused — by the severe winter weather t...

It’s been about a year since wide swaths of the U.S. shut down to prevent the spread of COVID-19. The trucking industry was not among them. American Trucking Associations President Chris Spear spoke with Transport Topics recently to reflect on the last 12 months. Spear said, “Last March, we didn’t know what we didn’t know, but it became clear just what an important role we were going to play in ge...

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says President Joe Biden’s upcoming infrastructure plan will offer a once-in-a-century opportunity to remake transportation in the United States, where cars and highways are no longer king. Speaking at the South by Southwest Conference, held virtually this year, Buttigieg said the U.S. no longer can follow a mentality of building roads based on moving as man...

XPO Logistics has selected GXO Logistics as the name of the stand-alone logistics company it will spin off later this year. According to XPO Logistics CEO Brad Jacobs, the letters stand for “the game-changing opportunities we’re bringing to the table.” Once the spinoff is complete, GXO will stand as an independent public company, and XPO will continue operating the current entity’s asset-based and...

According to a new analysis from the American Transportation Research Institute, a national vehicle-miles-traveled fee system would prove a complicated and expensive alternative to the federal fuel tax. The report comes after Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg suggested earlier this year that a VMT tax looked promising as a future funding solution. But ATRI’s research estimated it would cost...

Hino Trucks intends to produce model year 2022 Classes 6-8 trucks for the United States and Canada equipped exclusively with diesel engines from Cummins. Hino will offer the Cummins B6.7 and L9 engines in its L and XL Series models by the end of the year. The OEM also reported it was accelerating its timeline for producing battery-electric trucks. The announcements were made at Work Truck Week 202...

Over the weekend, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi pledged swift work by Congress on President Joe Biden’s upcoming jobs and infrastructure package. Pelosi also said she wasn’t sure if the bill would attract Republican backing. Road- and bridge-building legislation has a long history of bipartisan support. But Republicans are wary of Biden’s focus on the environment, as well as the likelihood the govern...

The trucking industry is touting a victory in West Virginia, where the state Legislature has advanced a bill that provides clarity for determining whether a worker is an independent contractor or an employee. The Senate passed the bill on March 11, advancing it to Gov. Jim Justice’s office. According to the bill, a person shall be classified as an independent contractor if he or she signs a writte...

Meera Joshi, new acting administrator of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, says automation has “extremely real and broad impacts.” Joshi was speaking at FMCSA’s 20th annual Analysis, Research, and Technology Forum, held virtually earlier this week. She said her tenure would include a focus on understanding the coming impacts of automation and preparing workforces for them. Learn mor...

U.S. Class 8 retail sales in February came in slightly below the year-ago figure. Yesterday WardsAuto.com reported that 15,369 Class 8s were sold in the month. Two truck makers — Volvo Trucks North America and Freightliner — notched monthly gains compared to 2020. For others, sales dropped. Class 8 orders have piled up in recent months, and experts have noted that persistent and various supply cha...

A coalition of trucking groups has issued a letter urging the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to designate truck stops and travel plazas as COVID-19 vaccination sites. Natso, which represents truck stop owners and operators, said in the letter truckers generally are unable to access many facilities, including medical sites, while driving a Class 8 vehicle. The group also suggested truck...

The House of Representatives will take up the new COVID-19 relief bill today, and it appears likely that lawmakers will clear it for President Joe Biden’s signature. Once that happens, the White House and decision-makers on Capitol Hill plan to turn their attention to infrastructure. Details of the Biden plan aren’t yet known, but it’s expected to include climate change provisions and updates to r...

The Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance has canceled this year’s North American Inspectors Championship, which had been scheduled to take place in August in Minneapolis. The championship event coincides with American Trucking Associations’ National Truck Driving Championships and National Step Van Driving Championships, and ATA had previously announced that event was being canceled. Both organizati...

Senate Democrats are zeroing in on passing a $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill that will include aid for transportation corridors. Policymakers have said they will soon push through a version similar to the House-passed bill, which included $30 billion for transit operations. House Democrats will then take up the revised legislation and clear it for President Joe Biden’s signature, all before Mar...

North American Class 8 orders reached 43,800 in February, good for an astounding 212% increase over the same month in 2020. According to ACT Research, which published the information, the orders came as the U.S. economy showed strength in areas key to truck fleets’ profitability. ACT President Kenny Vieth said that even without the potential boons of new stimulus or an infrastructure bill, near- t...

Most people know Amazon as an online retail giant. But a report by DePaul University business professor Joseph Schweiterman says Amazon is fast becoming a direct competitor of UPS, FedEx and the U.S. Postal Service in the air cargo sector. The report said Amazon Air grew its daily flight schedule by 15% between August 2020 and February by adding 18 flights. This summer, that number could grow to m...