Thursday, October 28, 2010

As has been the case during third quarter earnings, Class I railroad earnings continued to deliver strong results, with Norfolk Southern’s strong earnings results bearing that out. Earnings for the Norfolk, Virginia-based carrier at $445 million were up 47 percent year-over-year. And earnings per share of $1.19 were also up 47 percent, beating Wall Street estimates of $1.09.

The United States Postal Service announced this week that Postmaster General and CEO John E. Potter will retire on December 3. Potter, a 32-year USPS veteran will be replaced by Patrick R. Donahoe, Deputy Postmaster General and Chief Operating Officer. Donahoe was voted as Potter’s successor by The Governors of the Postal Service and will become the 73rd Postmaster General.

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Data from ACT Research, a provider of data and analysis for trucks and other commercial vehicles, indicates that the average retail sales price of Class 8 used vehicles sold in September was up 3 percent from August at $42,100.

Even though the economy and the freight transportation market are still on a bumpy road, truck tonnage took a step forward, with September volumes up compared to August, according to the American Trucking Associations (ATA).

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

The International Air Transport Association announced International traffic recorded a 14.8 percent year-on-year increase, which is significantly weaker than the 19.0 percent rise recorded in August.

Menlo Worldwide Logistics LLC, a third-party logistics (3PL) subsidiary of freight transportation services provider Con-way Inc. announced this week it has expanded its relationship with Dana Holding Corporation, a provider of driveline products, power technologies, and genuine service parts for light and heavy manufacturers.

Following a July announcement stating that ATC Corporation, a provider of logistics and remanufacturing services for the high-tech and automotive services had entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by third-party logistics (3PL) services provider Genco Distribution System for $512.6 million, the deal has now been made official.

The spot market is continuing an impressive run in 2010, according to data in the TransCore North American Freight Index. In August, TransCore reported that spot market freight availability was up 65 percent in September year-over-year, with September hitting its highest spot market level since 2005, which TransCore said was a peak year for spot market volume.

The average price per gallon of diesel gasoline remained above the $3 per gallon for the fourth straight week, according to data released this week by the Department of Energy’s Energy Information Administration. For the week of October 25, the EIA reported that that the average price per gallon of diesel fuel is $3.067 per gallon, a 0.6 cent decline from the week of October 18

Monday, October 25, 2010

As part of their commitment to environmental stewardship, Hamburg Süd and Aliança have decided to extend their tests with low-sulphur fuels to include Asia.