News
Why Chicago brokers call contract rates ‘paper rates’
Shippers and carriers alike are exposed to spot market volatility There are at least three ways to interpret the ‘paper’ in ‘paper rates.’ The first is that the rates aren’t worth the paper they’re printed on, but that feels too harsh. The second could be that contract rates are ‘just what’s on paper,’ implying that […]
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Manual transmissions… still shifting?
The percentage of Class 8 trucks, or semi-trucks (those with a gross vehicle weight rating exceeding 33,000 pounds) equipped with manual transmissions is certainly much higher than the consumer automobile market. However, that percentage has declined (and is declining). But Class 8 trucks with manual transmissions are still manufactured – and preferred by many drivers. […]
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Trump nominee Rosen considered key player in emissions rollbacks
President Donald Trump’s pick to replace deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein could bolster Administration efforts to roll back or delay Obama-era pollution rules affecting the trucking sector. U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) deputy secretary Jeffrey Rosen, who was nominated earlier this week by President Trump to replace Rosenstein as second in command at the U.S. […]
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Weekend blizzard heading to Great Plains, Midwest, Northeast
Another big storm is heading toward the nation’s heartland soon, dumping lots of snow in portions of the Midwest and Mountain Prairie regions, in addition to stirring up blustery winds. It’ll be unpleasant for truckers and people dreaming of an early spring break getaway. Even snowbirds who have been “working for the weekend” may want […]
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Beating back too many brokers’ wrongheaded mentality: ‘Keep the shipper happy no matter what it costs the carrier’
I’ve written about avoid-like-the-plague “right of offset,” or setoff, language in contracts between carriers and partner brokers in recent months more than once.Such language allows a broker a way to do what is spelled out in the title of this post, which is itself a paraphrase of the original, not-so-sanitized way too many brokerages’ mentalities have been described to […]
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Owner-operators reap record earnings in 2018
The high-demand year that trucking enjoyed for most of 2018 produced strong rate hikes that translated well to owner-operator net income. Owner-operators averaged $65,360 for the year, based on more than 15,000 leased and independent operator clients of ATBS, the nation’s largest owner-operator financial services company. That’s an 8.6 percent jump, or $5,178, from 2017, […]
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Employee suit alleges NEMF violated federal law regarding layoff notifications
A group of drivers and other employees of bankrupt less-than-truckload (LTL) carrier New England Motor Freight Inc. (NEMF) have filed a class-action suit alleging the company failed to comply with federal law requiring employers with 100 or more employees to give 60 calendar-days notice of plant closings and mass layoffs. Read more at : https://www.freightwaves.com/news/ltl/nemf-failed-to-give-sufficient-layoff-notice-suit-alleges Article […]
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DOT auditing FMCSA registry of medical examiners over fraud cases
Spurred by a wake of criminal charges against medical examiners who have fraudulently issued DOT medical certificates to truck operators, the U.S. DOT’s Office of Inspector General announced Wednesday it is opening an audit to evaluate the DOT medical certification program. Of focus in the audit is the National Registry of Certified Medical Examiners, implemented […]
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Pilot Flying J “Inside Girls” sentenced to community service
Senior U.S. District Judge Curtis L. Collier Jr. sentenced the final four women to be tried in the Pilot Flying J fraud case to probation and community service, the Knoxville News Sentinel reported. The women include Ashley Judd, Holly Radford, Lexie Holden and Janet Welch. The group of women, known as the “Inside Girls” are […]
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