A revenue increase boosted earnings for J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ: JBHT), as the carrier reported second-quarter net earnings of $151.7 million, or $1.37 per share, versus second-quarter 2017 net earnings of $97.9 million, or 88 cents per share.
Penske Logistics has reached agreement in principle to acquire Epes Transport Systems, of Greensboro, NC. The deal, expected to be finalized in the next few weeks, will add over 1,200 units to Penske Logistics.
The year 2018 is shaping up as one not seen in trucking in more than a decade, explained Chris Lofgren, CEO of Schneider National, on the company’s earnings call on Thursday morning.
The Richmond-based carrier was privately held with approximately $100 million in revenue.
While producer price inflation for the overall service sector has remained fairly benign, hovering between 2-2.5%, freight trucking inflation has been accelerating rapidly. After a dismal 2-year period of declining rates within the trucking industry, prices have picked up, with inflation reaching a 6-year high in January.
Fleet execs are talking about the driver shortage as if it were the worst thing to happen in the industry, but they should be thankful. It keeps gives fleets pricing power.
If retailers can’t realize savings by wringing efficiencies out of their supply chain, they are doomed to smaller margins, and it could be apocalyptic if they significantly raised prices on customers.
According to the Department of Transportation, nearly 20% of all trailers are traveling empty down the highway. That doesn’t account for trailers that are running less than full. That empty space, whether it is enough room for one pallet or ten, is a revenue opportunity lost.
Harvey is the kerosene to accelerate the trends towards a major capacity crunch in the truckload industry. With as much as ten percent of capacity being impacted, combined with surpluss demand coming from relief and rebuilding- the truckload market capacity is expected to be super tight
In a stock swap valued at $6 billion, truckload operators Knight Transportation and Swift Transportation have agreed to a merger. The new company, Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings, will have approximately 23,000 tractors, 77,000 trailers, 28,000 employees and control approximately 5% of the nation’s truckload market.
