Economics

Autonomous vehicles may be coming, but it doesn’t appear to be very soon.

Gerdin says timetable could speed up on the back of a strong freight market. 

The Index for Small Business Optimism jumped two points to 106.9 in January in an encouraging sign that the nation’s small and independent businesses have shrugged of some of the recent political turmoil in Washington and are looking forward to the expected boost in economic activity.

UPS is asking for inclusion of part-time drivers to make Sunday deliveries and also to allow use of personal vehicles in its latest demands in contract negotiations with the Teamsters, according to reports.

Xeneta is a freight rate benchmarking platform focusing on ocean freight. It aggregates rate data from various companies into a platform and provides market average rates, lows and highs to its customers.

Cashflow Corner presented by TriumphPay You’ve taken the leap and decided to purchase your own truck. Or maybe you run a small fleet and have a handful of trucks. In either case, the next challenge is upon you: maintaining those vehicles, because if a truck isn’t running, it isn’t making any money.

The U.S. Energy Information Agency has released its Annual Energy Outlook for 2018, with projections to 2050. The EIA calls for massive growth in oil and LNG production and exports over the next few decades, which will be a boon for the trucking industry.

After several delays, Rhode Island Department of Transportation (RIDOT) workers have begun installing truck toll gantries in the state this week. The project, which will collect truck-only tolls at 12 locations in the state, is estimated to raise about $470 million in tax revenue over 10 years.

Data is a crucial resource that enables fleet managers to streamline their internal processes and GPS technology is a key part of the equation.

As capacity tightens, there are two ways fleets and shippers can go: they can add more capacity through acquisition or equipment purchases, or they can tap into existing capacity in a different way. That way might be boosting the rental and dedicated transportation markets.

“We’ve spent much of this decade working with business partners to build out the cargo delivery platform our customers want and in 2018 we’re putting it to work,” said Port of Oakland CEO Chris Lytle

As the UK government battles congestion at the ports of Dover and Folkestone, a decision by the government to rent space at Manston Airfield in the county of Kent for 3 million pounds is coming under fire.

With so many regulations to follow, fleets and shippers probably don’t need another reason to fret, but bribery and corruption are on the rise.

XPO had strong earnings for the fourth quarter. Here’s what a pair of analysts had to say about the company.

Predictive maintenance is something that has been talked about for several years. The ability to identify when particular components might fail, or to proactively replace components before they fail based on past data trends has been referred to as the Holy Grail of vehicle maintenance.

According to a report from Tech Crunch, Elon Musk’s Tesla is preparing to test autonomous driving on a cross-country trip within 3 to 6 months.

Trucking companies face high insurance costs, and few are higher than new venture insurance for new carriers. Some steps can be taken to help lower that initial cost, though.

What exactly is going on with all these truck orders? ACT Research reported that January Class 5-8 preliminary orders came in at a surprising 80,400 units. Class 8 orders alone accounted for 48,700 units, their best month since March 2006.

Seasonality has finally hit van rates as available loads dropped 6% last week, according to DAT.

Blockchain technology has the potential to massively improve processes within the freight industry. LoadBlock, an Arizona-based start-up, is capitalizing on this shift in technology by developing blockchain-integrated systems.