Some of our tried and true analysts are even saying that the term “LTL” may soon be a thing of the past, with many of them preferring to call it the “heavy weight” sector of the business. Maybe we'll just call it the “new LTL.”

Due to these distractions—along with other annoyances like increasing fuel costs and the driver shortage—we found that overall weighted scores dipped a bit this year from 2006 in the National LTL and Surface Package categories.

However, we did see a subtle improvement on performance scores overall in the Multiregional & Interregional LTL category, with the average weighted score ringing in at 31.05, up from last year's 30.52.

This year we find newly named FedEx National LTL (32.21) and category mainstay ABF Freight System (30.19) trotting into the winner's circle for outstanding overall performance in the National LTL category. The carriers were neck-in-neck in all criteria, with FedEx beating ABF by a nose in the all- important On-time Performance measure. However, it's interesting to note that the On-time Performance average for the category dropped by a half point this year, while average weighted score for this category dropped by 2.24 points this year—indicating, perhaps, a touch of shipper malaise.

While the National LTL category scores dipped slightly, we can report that satisfied shippers gave the Multiregional & Interregional LTL carriers better overall marks in 2007. As a matter of fact, average weighted scores were up over 2006 in Value, Information Technology, and Customer Service. FedEx Freight chimed in with an impressive 11.06 for its On-time Performance, followed by newcomer to the Quest for Quality R&L Carriers (9.94), and survey mainstay Old Dominion (9.50). Saia took the prize for best Value in the category, coming in at 8.93, followed closely by R&L and Old Dominion.

The Surface Package category has been a two horse race for as long as we can remember, and this year was no different. Surface shippers had no problem putting UPS and FedEx Ground back into the winner's circle. In 2006, UPS' weighted score bested FedEx by 2.18 points. This year, FedEx Ground closed the gap. In 2007, it's UPS by a nose, or a mere 0.75 points.