Industry
Transport Topics Noel Fletcher March 23, 2023
North American transborder truck freight in January jumped nearly 13% from the same month last year, with solid increases in total goods traded both with Canada and Mexico, according to new Bureau of Transportation Statistics figures released March 22.
In overall freight values, trucking captured $77 billion. That represented the bulk of the total $125.8 billion of transborder freight moved by all modes of transportation, BTS figures noted for January. Truck trade across the U.S.-Mexico border accounted for
$44.7 billion.
Link: Bureau Of Transportation Statistics North American Transborder Freight up 10.6% in
January 2023 from January 2022
The Wall Street Journal Chao Deng And Benoit Faucon March 23, 2023
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Executives in the industry are betting it is worth drilling again in some of the hardest places to do business in the world as Europe increasingly turns to other sources for its energy needs after shunning its main supplier, Russia, over the invasion of Ukraine.
In recent months, a string of European officials have visited the region to help advance talks over potential supply deals.
Halliburton and Honeywell International Inc. are hammering out $1.4 billion worth of deals to develop an oil field and refinery with National Oil Corporation in Libya, which has the largest known oil reserves in Africa, according to the chairman of state-owned
firm, Farhat Bengdara. Italy’s Eni is planning investments aimed at replacing nearly half of the gas it was importing from Russia with gas from Algeria.
Shippers/3PLs
Transport Dive Larry Avila March 23, 2023
• Dollar General private fleet surpassed 1,600 tractors during FY 2022 , which ended in early February, thereby doubling the amount it had a year earlier.
• The expansion of the company’s private fleet is part of a cost-savings push, where the company’s mission includes controlling expenses and always seeking to be a low-cost operator, CEO Jeffrey Owen said during the company’s Q4 earnings call.
• Within a year, the retailer expects its private fleet to grow to more than 2,000 tractors, accounting for over 50% of its outbound transportation.
Transport Topics/Bloomberg Brendan Case March 23, 2023
The Bentonville, Ark.-based company is paring jobs as it bolsters warehouse automation to reduce the cost of handling online purchases. The retailer has so far avoided the kind of mass layoffs underway at rival Amazon.com Inc., which this week said it would
slash payrolls by another 9,000 jobs in addition to 18,000 recent cuts.
Walmart said last month it would close three of its 11 U.S. technology hubs and require affected workers to relocate. Employees who decide to quit will receive severance, the company said at the time.
Government/Safety/Sustainability
Supply Chain Dive Ben Unglesbee March 23, 2023
The agency’s major findings of the tariffs’ impacts from 2018 to 2021 include:
• Steel imports covered by the tariffs fell by 24% average, while U.S. production volume increased 1.9% and prices rose 2.4%
• Across the many sectors covered by the Section 301 tariffs, imports from China fell by 13% on average while the value of domestic production rose an average of 0.4%.
• The value of semiconductor imports and other electronic components from China fell 72.3% while the value of domestic production increased 6.4%.
Link: U.S. International Trade Commission Economic Impact of Section 232 and 301 Tariffs
on U.S. Industries
Fleet Owner Cristina Commendatore March 23, 2023
Study points to benefits of eco-driving
The objective of TIRF’s study, which is not yet public, is to analyze how changing driver behaviors and adopting more efficient driving techniques can impact the fleets’ risk of collisions and DOT-related violations.
The study looked at several long-haul Class 8 drivers employed by companies in Canada. Three companies, comprising 2,531 drivers, within the study used the Isaac Coach, while one company with a total of 103 drivers studied did not.
Milad Delavary, TIRF research associate, found that when motor carriers modify driving styles to maintain steady speeds via adaptive cruise control, avoid harsh braking, spend more time in top gear, and use technology for real-time routing and to anticipate
traffic jams, they can significantly reduce the odds of near-hit events and crashes. Such eco-driving tactics, he added, also help reduce fleet fuel consumption and could help fleets save in insurance costs.
Transport Topics Eric Miller March 23, 2023
Members of the group, known as the Clean Freight Coalition, include American Trucking Associations, American Truck Dealers, National Tank Truck Carriers, Truckload Carriers Association and Truck & Engine Manufacturers Association, according to a March 23 announcement.
The coalition’s mission includes:
• Educate policymakers on the progress the trucking industry has made in reducing emissions and protecting the environment.
• Promote the work underway to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from freight transportation.
• Advocate for sound public policies that transition toward a zero-emission future in a manner that ensures affordable and reliable freight transportation and protects the nation’s supply chain.
Workforce
Heavy Duty Trucking Vesna Brajkovic March 23, 2023
There are more women technicians working on diesel trucks than ever before, but that percentage is still just under 4%, according to the Women In Trucking Association's 2022 WIT Index. Women technicians remain the outlier. Does the ratio of men and women in
the shop need to be equal across the country to effectively change the male-dominated image of technicians? At what point would that ratio ever even out? Some say the percentage of women in the shop may never grow substantially if young girls don’t see themselves
represented in the career in the first place.
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