The Daily Dash: TFI, the Teamsters and their new relationship

Q4 earnings are rolling in, and they are strong

TFI International CEO Alain Bedard may have been greasing the wheels for the acquisition of UPS’ freight business, praising the Teamsters long before the acquisition was announced. (Photo: Jim Allen/FreightWaves)

The Daily Dash is a quick look at what is happening in the freight ecosystem. In today’s edition, TFI International CEO Alain Bedard praised the Teamsters long before the company announced the acquisition of the unionized UPS Freight. Plus, Marten and Knight-Swift both posted strong earnings results in Q4, and the Biden administration has revoked a Department of Labor opinion letter on employee classification.

Laying the groundwork

TFI International (NYSE:TFII) CEO Alain Bedard may have been greasing the wheels for the acquisition of UPS’ (NYSE:UPS) freight business, praising the Teamsters long before the acquisition was announced.

Nate Tabak has more on Bedard’s comments: Did TFI CEO extend olive branch to Teamsters before UPS deal?

Expected improvement

The nation’s largest truckload carrier, Knight-Swift Transportation (NYSE: KNX), reported Wednesday fourth-quarter adjusted earnings per share of 94 cents, ahead of the consensus estimate of 91 cents and well ahead of the year-ago result of 55 cents.

Todd Maiden details the earnings results: Knight-Swift Q4 first look: Big improvement as expected

End-of-year high

Truckload carrier Marten Transport (NASDAQ: MRTN) had a blowout fourth quarter, establishing numerous records in its financial performance.

John Kingston looks at the results: Record-breaking performance for the quarter at Marten

Trump administration’s opinion revoked

An opinion letter issued in the final days of the Trump administration that sought to clarify some specific issues on classifying independent truck drivers has been withdrawn by the Biden administration.

John Kingston has details on the development: DOL withdraws Trump administration letter on driver classification issues

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Did you miss this?

Former Forward Air (NASDAQ: FWRD) CFO Andy Clark sat down with FreightWaves to discuss his role as one of several activist investors seeking changes at the company.

Read what Clark told FreightWaves’ Todd Maiden: Former CFO sees ‘better path’ for Forward Air

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.