Looking back at NASSTRAC

As I expected, NASSTRAC 2011 was replete with terrific content and information. The fact is, had it not been I would have been shocked.

This year’s event had several different focus areas for shippers and carriers. I mean take your pick: HOS, CSA, capacity, infrastructure, fuel prices, truck size and weight, and Wall Street’s take on the market, among others. 

Given all these topics, one underlying theme was that things are slowly getting better. Yes, that has been a common refrain for a long while now but we need to take what we can at this point.

This is especially true when we look at what is happening with fuel in particular.

But back to NASSTRAC. Even with the tight capacity in the trucking market, many carriers in Orlando told me that “there is a lot of freight out there.” Based on the relatively flat readings of the Cass Freight Index and ATA tonnage readings in recent months, that is not in dispute but at the same time it would be nice to see some steady upward momentum for a sustained period.

Even with some things looking up, there is plenty to be concerned about as a shipper or a carrier, and the speakers at NASSTRAC hit the nail on the head in reading the tea leaves on various topics, including Jon Langenfeld and John Barnes taking a Wall Street analyst view of the transportation and logistics landscape in their excellent presentations, James Oberstar discussing infrastructure, John Cutler’s always excellent “Washington Update,” and the outstanding shipper and carrier panels, among other offerings.

Since I have returned from Florida, I have filed two NASSTRAC news items for www.logisticsmgmt.com. Be sure to expect more on the site and in the pages of LM for a little while. This conference gives me the gift of content and stories to chase, and I endeavor to cover my tracks and tell you what happened.