Industry
Transport Dive David Taube January 25, 2023
COVID-19 policies pausing factories in China are easing and semiconductor shortages have reversed, allowing major OEMs to boost production. But as fleet managers contend with an economic slowdown, analysts and other industry experts are noting potential roadblocks.
“Max headwinds from supply chain risk were really over the course of ’22,” said Jerry Revich, Goldman Sachs’ head of U.S. machinery, infrastructure and sustainable tech research. “We’re now at a point where we’re seeing increasing signs of supply, catching
up with demand and in some cases, overtaking demand.”
While orders are expected to be strong in the first half of the year due to pent-up demand from shortages, the outlook is more murky for 2023’s second half.
The Wall Street Journal Paul Berger January 25, 2023
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Long-stalled West Coast port labor talks are showing no signs of progress, according to people familiar with the negotiations, extending uncertainty for U.S. retailers who rely on the coast to import goods from Asia.
Shipping industry and Biden administration officials had hoped the talks, which began in May, would conclude last fall. But, people familiar with the negotiations say the parties haven’t made progress since the summer on regional issues that are delaying discussion
of major contract provisions, including wages and automation.
One person familiar with the talks said there was a growing sense of frustration in the maritime industry. ”Everyone would like to see this conclude so there’s no more uncertainty in the market and we can move on,” the person said.
The Wall Street Journal Costas Paris January 25, 2023
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U.S. railroad operators have tepid outlooks for 2023 as they brace for a slowdown in demand for manufactured goods among other products and higher costs.
“Our outlook for 2023 reflects the uncertainty of a challenging landscape in which the path of the demand environment and inflation remain unclear,” Norfolk Southern Chief Executive Alan Shaw said Wednesday on an earnings conference call. “We see full year
revenue level with 2022 performance.”
The Journal Of Commerce Eric Johnson January 25, 2023
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Logistics software provider and freight marketplace Freightos will publicly list on the Nasdaq Thursday, completing a process announced last June when the company was acquired by a so-called special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) with the aim of taking
it public.
The performance of Freightos’ stock will be watched closely by a logistics software market keen to gauge public investor appetite for a new breed of venture-backed companies to emerge in the past decade. Freightos provides air and ocean rate management software
as well as online transaction products for spot bookings through payments.
Freightos Group CEO Zvi Schreiber told the Journal of Commerce this week the immediate impact of going public is that it instantly unlocks $18 million in committed capital from the group behind the SPAC acquisition, no matter how the stock performs on day one
in the public market.
Government/Safety/Sustainability
Transport Topics Eric Miller January 25, 2023
The plan, if approved by the CARB board, includes a provision to delay zero-emission truck purchases up to five years due to charging infrastructure construction delays, and a right for a fleet to buy a California-certified truck with an internal combustion
engine when there is no electric truck with “equivalent configurations” available for purchase. However, motor carriers will be required to make a strong case to be granted exemptions.
“The amendments are better than what was originally proposed,” said Mike Tunnell, senior director of environmental affairs for American Trucking Associations. “But I think it’s going to be a high bar to get these exemptions, and we’ve listed a number of instances
that exemptions were not addressing.”
Fleet Owner Josh Fisher January 25, 2023
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency published its final new rule for heavy-duty engines and vehicles in the Federal Register on Jan. 24, officially creating more stringent emissions rules for truck OEMs. As manufacturers refine and develop the technology
to meet the next step of the EPA's Clean Truck Plan, fleets should consider how it affects their operations.
With the new emissions rules beginning with model year 2027 large trucks and engines, now is the time for fleets to start planning procurement strategies, according to Dan Porterfield, SVP of maintenance and equipment control at Covenant Logistics. He noted
that diesel has been the fuel of choice in the trucking industry because it's "very, very cheap to operate."
"As we keep adding regulations to the diesel engines, that makes them more expensive to operate," Porterfield said during American Trucking Associations' Management Conference and Exhibition late last year. "Diesel parity isn't necessarily coming because the
other (fuel sources) are getting cheaper; it is because diesel is getting more expensive."
Workforce
The Extra Mile Blog@Yellow Corporation January 23, 2023
How two Yellow employees collaborated on a song to help disabled children and their families in southeast Michigan.
Sometimes, a routine work assignment can turn into something bigger than work.
Last summer, Bryan Benchich, an area sales director for Yellow, shadowed Brent Johnson, manager of Jackson, Mich. terminal #358. He wanted to learn what Johnson does on a day-to-day basis as part of an effort to improve collaboration between Sales and Operations.
One day during a break, the two men started talking about music. Benchich mentioned he was a guitarist and singer-songwriter who played gigs around Grand Rapids, Mich. Johnson responded by handing Benchich his business card – the one for a nonprofit charity
called Giving Songs – and asked if he would like to record a song in a studio.
“I said, ‘Sure,’” Benchich recalled. “As a musician, it’s always been a dream to be recorded and something I had never done.”
Over the past 11 years, Giving Songs has recorded 85 songs, raising more than $300,000 and contributing 25 individual grants.
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