The Daily Dash: Supply Chain Summit in review; TravelCenters takes out loan

TravelCenters of America (NASDAQ: TA) pledged practically all of its assets to secure a $200 million loan to pay for CEO Jonathan Pertchik’s makeover of the business. (Photo: Jim Allen/FreightWaves)

The Daily Dash is a quick look at what is happening in the freight ecosystem. In today’s edition, supply chain resiliency, digitization and trends were among the focus of the North American Supply Chain Summit on Tuesday. Plus, TravelCenters of America takes out a loan to fund its business makeover and full queries to the Drug & Alcohol Clearinghouse are on the rise, suggesting more drivers may be testing positive.

Supply chain focus of virtual event

FreightWaves hosted the North American Supply Chain Summit on Tuesday, with a focus on how the supply chain survived 2020, what challenges await in 2021 and trends to watch for over the next five years.

FreightWaves staff has the coverage: North American Supply Chain Summit

Makeovers cost money

TravelCenters of America (NASDAQ: TA) pledged practically all of its assets to secure a $200 million loan to pay for CEO Jonathan Pertchik’s makeover of the business.

Alan Adler explains: TravelCenters of America goes all-in for $200M loan

Drug cheats?

The increasing number of full queries made into the federal Drug & Alcohol Clearinghouse is evidence that the database is taking drug abusers off the road as intended, according to a trucking regulatory expert.

John Gallagher looks inside the numbers: Drivers getting caught in FMCSA’s drug clearinghouse net

Parcels, vaccines and peak season collide

A tumultuous year for the parcel-delivery business has been taken to another level as parcel shippers find themselves competing with the most precious of cargoes for peak holiday season air and surface capacity. 

Mark Solomon has details on how UPS, FedEx are handling the convergence: Vaccine distribution, peak-season climax spawn parcel delivery storm

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USA Truck, Penske Logistics deploy Trucker Tools technology solutions

ArcBest CCO helping steer customers through supply chain volatility

Supply chain resilience to reach new heights in 2021 — survey

Early renewable energy achievement on tap for AB InBev

Digitizing the supply chain is a collaborative effort

Did you miss this?

Boyle Transportation knows a thing or two about transporting vaccines, so it was no surprise that the company’s trucks were involved in the first delivery of Pfizer’s COVID vaccine.

Alan Adler talks to the company’s co-president about the special cargo: Boyle Transportation helps UPS air network move COVID vaccine

Hammer down, everyone,

Brian Straight

Managing Editor

Click for more FreightWaves articles by Brian Straight.

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Brian Straight

Brian Straight leads FreightWaves' Modern Shipper brand as Managing Editor. A journalism graduate of the University of Rhode Island, he has covered everything from a presidential election, to professional sports and Little League baseball, and for more than 10 years has covered trucking and logistics. Before joining FreightWaves, he was previously responsible for the editorial quality and production of Fleet Owner magazine and fleetowner.com. Brian lives in Connecticut with his wife and two kids and spends his time coaching his son’s baseball team, golfing with his daughter, and pursuing his never-ending quest to become a professional bowler. You can reach him at bstraight@freightwaves.com.