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Monday, October 04, 2010

Recently-introduced legislation by Representative Laura Richardson (D-Calif.) addresses efficient ways for goods to move in and out of the United States. Entitled The Freight is the Future of Commerce Act in the United States Act of 2010 (Freight FOCUS Act, H.R. 6291), the bill offers up myriad ways to address options for more efficient goods movement at a time when meaningful progress towards U.S. surface transportation authorization is seemingly stalled.

In a recent interview with LM, three senior executives shared their views on the current state of the cold chain industry.

OK—I guess it is not a surprise at this point, but it looks like any type of economic recovery occurring (it is, right?) is being driven by manufacturing rather than the more typical leader, consumer spending.

Even though the economy remains stuck in neutral, it appears that the trucking market may be gaining some sustained momentum, based on the September edition of the Cass Information Systems Freight Index.

Friday, October 01, 2010

The Institute of Supply Management reported that manufacturing activity in September was down compared to August.

Soon after less-than-truckload (LTL) transportation service providers YRC Worldwide and ABF Freight System announced matching 5.9 percent general rate increases, FedEx Freight said this week it is upping its GRI a bit higher at 6.9 percent, effective November 1.

As noted in today’s news, the U.S. Department of Justice may not be through with naming forwarders guilty of price-fixing.

While news that half a dozen major international freight forwarders have plead guilty to price-fixing, there may be more collateral damage to come.

Another week, another 2010 record for intermodal volumes. That seems to be the case these days, according to data released this week by the Association of American Railroads (AAR).

Trade using surface transportation between the United States and its North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) partners Canada and Mexico was up 18.8 percent in July 2010 compared to July 2009, increasing to $61.3 billion, according to data released by the United States Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS).