Trucking
The Trucker February 9, 2021
“During the fourth quarter volume and pricing continued to improve in a tighter capacity environment. As the industrial and retail segments of the economy rebound a shortage of drivers is keeping a lid on LTL capacity. Overall, the industry is stable and well positioned for a strong 2021,” Hawkins said.
“During a challenging and unprecedented 2020, our nearly 30,000 employees persevered, continuing their essential service for our customers and the communities we serve with a proud sense of patriotism. They are heroes and their dedication and commitment are greatly appreciated. I have never been prouder of our team,” he concluded.
Truckinginfo.com Avery Vise February 9, 2021
Although the industry has seen some remarkable year-over-year increases in new entry – 2004 and 2018, for example – nothing compares to what we saw in 2020. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration granted common authority to nearly 58,000 motor carriers of property, a 36% increase over 2019. Nor was 2019 a weak year for new authority, as it just barely fell below the previous record year of 2018.
The 2020 surge in new authority was concentrated in the second half of the year. Each month from July through December saw more new carriers authorized than any month prior to that period. Clearly, the pandemic’s consequences sparked new entry. The most obvious impetus was the surge in spot market volumes and rates that began in June as the goods economy rebounded from the spring contraction.
Industry
The Wall Street Journal Costas Paris February 8, 2021
Some container lines and their importing customers are looking for alternate paths to get around bottlenecks at the main U.S. trade gateways in Southern California, where an armada of cargo vessels is anchored offshore at the congested seaports.
Shipping lines have started moving some operations to smaller ports and have canceled some sailings altogether to avoid the backups that have tied up dozens of ships and hundreds of thousands of containers stuffed with goods off the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.
France’s CMA CGM SA, the world’s fourth-largest container operator by capacity, said it was replacing a weekly six-ship service from China to Los Angeles with a separate sailing to Oakland, Calif., and Seattle.
Technology/Innovation
Freight Waves John Kingston February 9, 2021
“You’re starting to see a shift in thinking in the industry and among C-suite executives that the stigma that used to be attached to a cyber event is something we’re looking at differently,” Tomasello said in a recent interview with FreightWaves. The interview was part of Forward Air’s continuing efforts to be strikingly up front about what happened to the company — an effort that included an interview granted by CEO Thomas Schmitt to FreightWaves about his views of the incident.
Government/Safety
Transport Topics Eric Miller February 9, 2021
Utah-based motor carrier C.R. England on Feb. 9 filed a sweeping federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization Act, or RICO, civil lawsuit alleging that a New Orleans law firm and six co-conspirators were paid a total of $4.7 million in a fraudulent settlement for a staged accident with an England tractor-trailer in 2015.
The 98-page lawsuit contains details that had previously not been widely known about these scams, including allegations that several “criminal enterprise” groups participated in a total of 150 staged accidents with tractor-trailers from 2015-2018 in the New Orleans area.
Transport Topics Eleanor Lamb February 9, 2021
People who rely on vehicle travel for work — including freight haulers—will be considered as Los Angeles’ congestion pricing pilot program takes shape.
The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority is in the process of conducting a two-year Traffic Reduction Study, which considers managing traffic through congestion pricing and providing more transportation options. As the transportation agency of Los Angeles County, Metro represents about 9.6 million people.
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