20 carriers listed as best fleets of 2021
Headlines
TCA and Carriers Edge released their list of best fleets to drive for in 2021, with four companies new to the list and 16 returning carriers.
The overall winners will be announced at TCA’s annual convention in Las Vegas, but the newcomers are Chief Carriers, Erb Transport, Jetco Delivery and Wilson Logistics. Notable returns include five-time awardee Garner Trucking. Grand Island Express has made the list for 10 consecutive years.
Class 8 truck orders surged in December, hitting 50,900 units, which reflects the huge demand for consumer goods, robust fleet profits and a reawakening of manufacturing.
California’s controversial Proposition 22 legislation has already impacted some workers, with major grocery chain Albertsons announcing plans to outsource grocery delivery to third-party companies like DoorDash. Andrew Cox says this is only the beginning of companies eliminating in-house delivery services, with those third-party providers benefiting the most from the legislation passing.
A congressional oversight committee has found shortcomings in decision-making processes by the Defense and Treasury departments when allocating COVID-19 relief loans, specifically around the loan designated to YRC Worldwide.
YRC was designated “critical to national security” and received a $700 million loan to support operations. YRC provides 68% of the government’s LTL services for the military.
Zach Strickland hops on Midday Market Update to talk about a drop in tender rejection rates, with rates falling below 24% for the first time since before the holiday season. Strickland says this is something to keep an eye on since it is unusual in the realm of seasonality.
Kevin Hill and Michael Vincent bring on Ryan Houfek, chief of sales and marketing at Direct Chassis Link, to hear how his company responded to the drastic changes in the freight market during the pandemic.
Houfek says DCL went from a dark place in the spring with furloughs to a market rebound to a time when everyone was needing chassis and needing them as soon as possible. Houfek thinks the market still needs to be prepared for a “double whammy” of changes as we enter the new year.
Eric Masotti, vice president of logistics at Trailer Bridge, also has some thoughts about what to be prepared for in 2021. He says his predictions around new truck orders have already been blown out of the water as he was expecting only 40,000 units.
As far as Trailer Bridge goes, Masotti expects to have a robust first quarter with business booming in the Caribbean market, the company’s primary trade lane.
Masotti thinks that technology will remain king, with people “continuing to see really large investments in technology brokerages” and that it will help more people succeed in searching for scale.
You can find more Midday Market Update recaps and recaps for all our live podcasts here.
