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Trucking company announces $1.2 million in employee bonuses due to tax reform |  | 
Illinois-based trucking company Dohrn Transfer has awarded each of its 1200 employees a $1,000 bonus due to recent corporate tax changes. The company’s president, Gary C. Dohrn, says he was “inspired” by similar actions by large corporations such as American Airlines, Comcast, and PNC Bank. Letters announcing the bonuses were sent out to 1200 full-time and part-time employees on Monday. A copy of the letter was forwarded to LiveTrucking and can be seen below.
The notice, signed by company president Gary C. Dohrn, states the following:
The company’s vice president of sales and marketing, Heather Dohrn, says both full-time and part-time employees will receive the full $1,000 bonus. Dohrn also stated that the company will put additional tax savings to use by reinvesting into new equipment and infrastructure. Letters announcing the bonuses were sent out to 1200 full-time and part-time employees on Monday. A copy of the letter was forwarded to LiveTrucking and can be seen below.
The notice, signed by company president Gary C. Dohrn, states the following:
The company’s vice president of sales and marketing, Heather Dohrn, says both full-time and part-time employees will receive the full $1,000 bonus. Dohrn also stated that the company will put additional tax savings to use by reinvesting into new equipment and infrastructure. Source of article click here : LIVE TRUCKING
Uber looked at buying a truck logistics company | |
Load Delivered and Uber met as recently as this month in Chicago.
Uber had looked at buying a Chicago-based freight logistics company to complement its existing UberFreight service, several people briefed on the process say. The ride-hailing startup spoke to Load Delivered Logistics, a broker for freight trucking routes, as recently as this month, but deal talks fell apart, the sources say. An Uber spokesperson said the company was not acquiring Load Delivered. Load Delivered did not respond to requests for comment on the acquisition talks. Uber’s interest in the logistics company spotlights one of its newer businesses, UberFreight, which helps independent truckers as well as trucking fleets find and negotiate available payload jobs through an app. Load Delivered is a traditional brokerage firm that pairs truckers with payload work through a 70-person team. Uber’s interest in the company suggests the deal could have been a way for Uber to add to its customer base or add to its growing roster of staffers with experience in the trucking industry. Load Delivered is still deciding whether to sell itself to any of the other players in the logistics market, the sources said — but the two companies met as recently as this month at Load Delivered’s offices in Chicago. The talks were serious enough that some rank-and-file Load Delivered employees were told about the transaction even though it had not yet closed. The talks began as early as last April, sources say, but stalled as Uber went several months without a full-time CEO. Investors ousted Travis Kalanick from the job in June, but Dara Khosrwoshahi didn’t assume the role until September. Load Delivered then also had a strong fourth quarter, said one person, and is now unsure if it wants to sell to anyone or remain an independent company. The company saw $87 million in revenue in 2016 and is profitable, according to Crain’s. The acquisition would have been an unusual move for a company attempting to overhaul the traditional trucking brokerage industry. But it’s not the first time Uber sought expertise in the realm it was trying to supplant. In September of 2016, Uber hired Bill Driegert to be the director of UberFreight. Driegert previously headed up the innovation efforts at freight logistics firm Coyote Logistics, which was acquired by UPS in 2015. “When we look for talent, Chicago’s at the top of the list,” Driegert told Crain’s in August 2017. “It’s a great hub for logistics and ops talent. We knew that managing the whole country from San Francisco was going to be a challenge.” In fact, at least a dozen UberFreight staffers previously worked at Coyote Logistics. In addition to talent, a Load Delivered purchase could have given UberFreight necessary expertise in shipping refrigerated freight — Load Delivered’s specialty, according to people in the industry. Source of article click here : recode
Senators suggest charging tolls on trucks on I-81 | |
A tractor-trailer rolls south on Interstate 81 in Montgomery County.
RICHMOND (AP) — Two state senators are calling for a study on the feasibility of imposing tolls on large trucks using Interstate 81. The potential toll revenue would fund safety improvements on the highway, according to Republican Sens. Mark Obenshain of Rockingham and Bill Carrico of Grayson, who filed a bill Friday to launch such a study. "We need to focus our efforts and money on improving I-81. It has been overlooked for too long, and Virginians in Southwest Virginia and the Valley deserve better," said Carrico, who chairs the Senate Transportation Committee. "This bill is an innovative approach, and I look forward to seeing the results of this study." Kansas and Rhode Island have similar truck-tolling programs. In 2017, revenue from commercial vehicle tolls in Kansas totaled $48 million. In Rhode Island, such tolls may generate $60 million in annual revenue for transportation needs, according to an economic impact study. I-81 runs 855 miles from Tennessee to the Canadian border. The Virginia segment is 325 miles long, from Bristol to Winchester. Obenshain said that I-81 carries nearly half of statewide truck traffic and that about a fifth of the traffic collisions on the interstate involve a heavy truck. "With over 2,000 crashes per year, and 30 crashes a year with a clearance time greater than six hours, we must be willing to look at creative methods to find substantive solutions to this problem," Obenshain said. The bill would set several stipulations for the proposed tolling program. Under the stipulations, the Commonwealth Transportation Board would:
No matter what the study might find, tolls on I-81 may be a long way off. Any tolling program on the highway would require approval from the General Assembly, Obenshain noted. "I believe that a willingness to explore innovative and unconventional funding sources can be a part of a bipartisan solution to the problems faced by those who travel Interstate 81 every day," he said. Obenshain has filed another bill aimed at truck safety on I-81. SB 561 calls for the Virginia Department of Transportation to conduct a pilot program requiring tractor trucks to travel in the right lane only. Man accused of stealing semi-truck had lengthy criminal history | |
Thornton Police were involved in a short chase before using GPS to track the truck. A 34-year-old man with a lengthy criminal history is accused of stealing a semi-truck Wednesday morning in Thornton. Jayson Cluster is facing several charges including assault, robbery and vehicle theft. Cluster led several agencies on a short chase but luckily, no one was hurt. According to Sergeant Ernie Lucero with Thornton Police, the truck was stolen while the driver was making a delivery at Santiago's Mexican Restaurant near I-25 and 84th Ave. "He felt some kind of nudge from the cab or the front of the tractor," Lucero said. "When he got to the cab and opened the door there was an individual inside of the truck." Lucero says Cluster allegedly showed a weapon and the driver decided to let the suspect take the truck. Then Cluster took off. Thornton Police were involved in a short chase before using GPS to track the truck. "We won't put the general public's safety at risk when we have the capability of following a vehicle through GPS through the company," Lucero said. Longmont Police Department and State Patrol used stops sticks on Highway 66, just east of I-25 in Boulder County to end the chase. Cluster's criminal history in Colorado includes trespassing, theft and assault of a peace officer. Right now he's in the custody of Thornton Police. Connecticut plans to shut down all rest areas on July 1 | |
"If we’re trying to choose between roads and bridges or rest areas, it’s a no-brainer," says the Connecticut DOT. Connecticut transportation officials say that they will shut down all seven of the state’s rest areas this summer unless money is moved into the state’s Special Transportation Fund. Funding Shortages Could Lead To All-State Rest Area ClosuresThe Connecticut Department of Transportation has plans to shut down all rest areas on July 1, 2018, because of funding shortages. If the rest areas were to be shut down by the state, they would be completely closed with no parking or public access at all. DOT spokesman Kevin Nursick remarked, “If we’re trying to choose between roads and bridges or rest areas, it’s a no-brainer.”
Here are the rest areas subject to the DOT’s shut down: I-91:
I-84
I-95
Connecticut does not plan to close down any of the state’s 23 service plazas because these locations feature amenities like restaurants and they bring revenue into the state. The DOT has considered using corporate sponsorship to keep the rest areas open, but there was “utterly no interest from the private sector.” Driving trucks in part of NY City could cost $25 extra; state group objects | |
If your driving takes you into the busiest part of New York City, you’ll have to pay for the privilege in the future if a new plan being advanced by the state is approved by the legislature. A new congestion pricing plan unveiled Friday calls for charging motorists, including trucks, a fee to drive in Manhattan below 60th Street. The fee for trucks: $25.34. Other motorists would pay $11.52; for-hire cars like taxies would pay $2 to $5 per ride. Fees would be charged by electronic tolling, and would be in effect during times when traffic is heaviest. Not surprisingly, the state’s trucking association objects, saying the plan by Fix NYC, will hurt trucking companies, and increase the costs of goods being delivered. The Trucking Association of New York Friday responded to the proposal, which is meant to ease congestion in the busiest part of the city and raise money to support the city’s troubled mass transit system. TANY said: The recommendations included in the Fix NYC advisory panel report will not only harm hundreds of trucking companies, many of which are small business, but will also increase the costs of goods being delivered in the proposed congestion pricing zone. Trucks are critical to the economy of New York City. Trucks deliver pharmaceuticals and medical equipment to hospitals, food and beverages to restaurants, linens and supplies to hotels, fuel to homes and businesses, building materials to construction sites, on?line deliveries to personal residences and more. Currently, 91 percent of all goods coming into or out of New York City are carried by truck. Truck drivers cannot use mass transit to make deliveries – they have no choice but to enter the commercial business district at the time that their customer requests. Charging a congestion fee does not cause the truck driver to shift delivery times, as it is not within their control. It will, however, increase the cost of deliveries to businesses located within the congestion zone. The trucking industry acknowledges that congestion is a major problem and needs to be addressed. However, the recommendations in the Fix NYC report create undue burdens and costs on an industry that is critical to the economic vitality of New York City. We are willing to work together to find real solutions to New York’s congestion issues. We look forward to working with the governor’s office and state legislature to develop solutions that are fair and equitable to the trucking industry and its millions of New York City customers. If the plan — like those in London and Stockholm — is approved, fees for trucks and personal vehicles could begin in 2020; the ones for taxies could be in place sooner. There would be no charge to motorists driving through Manhattan on the FDR Drive. If approved, it would be the first of its kind in the U.S. A similar plan was advanced in 2008, but failed. |
Atlanta’s ‘Spaghetti Junction’ ranked worst bottleneck in trucking | |
Aerial view of Atlanta's 'Spaghetti Junction' Not to much surprise, ‘Spaghetti Junction’ has been ranked number one in the country’s bottlenecks. The American Transportation Research Institute released the 2018 list of Top 100 Truck Bottlenecks in the U.S. and Georgia claimed the top spot. But that’s not all — Atlanta appeared on the list seven times:
The data revealed that the average speed on the Spaghetti Junction was just short of 25 miles per hour. Congestion in Atlanta is only getting worse as speed around the city continues to drop. This is the third time Atlanta has come in at number one on the list and most of the bottleneck problems are concentrated near the perimeter of I-285. NEXT Trucking secures $21M in funding as it seeks to grow freight platform | |
Two-year-old startup NEXT Trucking has secured $21 million in a Series B round of financing, led by Sequoia Capital, as it seeks to stand out in a crowded field of competitors looking to match available truck capacity with freight. “We closed the round in early December with Sequoia Capital, and they are one of the best [venture capital firms] in the country,” Lidia Yan, CEO of NEXT Trucking, tells FreightWaves. Yan notes that the financing round was oversubscribed, which FreightWaves has found is a common occurrence for trucking-related startups in recent years, especially those based on technology. Yan says the funding will be used to beef up NEXT Trucking’s technology team and add more sales and trucking talent. “We believe people from the trucking industry understand the trucking industry, which is based on relationships,” Yan says, as to why the company is focusing on trucking industry personnel. Yan co-founded the company with her husband, Elton Chung, who has a background in logistics and founded a 3PL company. Chung works more on the sales and operations side of the business while Yan focuses on the technology aspects. The company is attacking the problems of truckers and shippers with what it says is a “trucker-centric online marketplace.” Its technology connects drivers with shippers based on inputs the drivers themselves provide to the free marketplace app. NEXT Trucking says that this helps small trucking companies and owner-operators who may not have the time to browse through traditional load boards looking for a load or time spent dealing with a broker. Drivers simply input their information, such as current availability or a city where they will be in the near future with available capacity, and the algorithms will match them with shippers looking to move freight based on routes, pricing, driver behavior and other intelligent matching algorithms. Truckers dictate what they want and post their availability on the marketplace before connecting with shippers, as opposed to shippers providing load information to brokers who call several truckers to find the cheapest option, the company explains. NEXT Trucking was founded on the belief that more could be done to help drivers. “There is a lot of back and forth with drivers [and brokers] who have their own rates and behavior and can spend 2 hours [in negotiations], which is very inefficient,” Yan says. “A lot of resources are wasted in waiting and then turning down a load.” In its short time in operation, some significant shippers have signed on, including Pioneer, Hisense, Jinko Solar, Jakks Pacific and steamship lines, including Mistui OSK Lines, by focusing on the California home-based carriers and lanes to other states. Yan says that while NEXT Trucking offers services in the continental U.S., about 60% of its carriers/owner-operators are based out of California. The new funding will help it broaden its base of carriers. Shippers are vetted and are primarily “enterprise shippers,” Yan says, meaning they are spending more than $2 million in shipping, and offering truckload freight. The company’s Shipment Dashboard for shippers includes timelines, route information and cost summaries, locations and status of shipments. Additional benefits include the ability to maximize cash flow with paperless billing and move goods at a more competitive price. Drivers are also vetted, and NEXT Trucking looks at driver histories, safety records, and insurance coverage. A minimum of $100,000 in cargo insurance is required, although NEXT Trucking offers supplementary insurance coverage for drivers’ whose coverage does not cover the shipper’s requirement. The company offers 48-hour Quick Pay (for a 3% fee) and fuel advance options as well as fleet management tools to help drivers/small carriers “make sure [they] have enough tools to compete,” explains Yan. Standard payment is 15 days, she says, but a new “Premier” program will soon launch. Members of Premier will get free access to Quick Pay in exchange for committing a certain percentage of their overall available capacity. Yan also says that contracts include detention fees of $50 per hour up to four hours, or $200 per day. Sequoia partner Omar Hamoui has joined the NEXT Trucking Board of Directors as part of the investment. “Logistics is at the very core of our economy, yet it faces some real challenges. NEXT Trucking has created a marketplace powered by sophisticated technology that resolves many of the critical imbalances that exist between the shipper's needs and driver's availability,” said Hamoui, in a statement. “The team has tripled revenue year over year and earned extremely high satisfaction and retention numbers on both sides of their marketplace.” Man charged with shooting at FedEx truck | |
 A man who said he thought his home was being burglarized fired multiple shots at a FedEx truck over the weekend, some apparently coming near the driver, authorities said. Austin Fouts, 24, was charged with aggravated assault with a gun after the incident Saturday near Cumming, according to a report by the Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office. The driver was not injured, authorities said. Fouts told the driver after he allegedly fired the shots that he didn’t realize he was a FedEx driver and thought he was stealing from the residence, according to the report. Fouts and his father returned to their Concord Brook Lane address about 7 p.m., the reporting deputy wrote, and saw a “white box truck leaving their driveway.” Austin Fouts thought their residence had just been broken into and was not sure if other family members were inside. He said he got out of his truck with a Glock 19 and fired “approximately four or five rounds” into the grass, and also fired at the truck. According to the report, five bullet holes were visible in the back of the truck, and four of the five went through the cab. “I observed that one bullet hole was just above the headrest of the driver’s seat,” the deputy wrote in the report. Fouts said he had seen “(rental) trucks driving the subdivision and even parked at the church down the road so he thought it was a break-in,” according to the deputy. Fouts bonded out of the Forsyth County jail Sunday, according to sheriff’s spokesman Doug Rainwater
Today’s Pickup: Seasonality hits rates as van, flatbed retreat from highs | |
At least for one week, seasonality has impacted rates, according to the latest data from DAT Solutions. Spot rates for dry vans and flatbeds fell for the week ending Jan. 20. The national average spot rate for vans dropped 1 cent to $2.27 per mile as van loads fell 5% and trucks posted increased 4%. DAT noted that rates fell on most of the top 100 van lanes, although a few markets saw increase. Notable increase include Dallas, up 2 cents to $2.05 per mile; Philadelphia, up 11 cents to $2.43 per mile; Chicago, up 5 cents to $3.05 per mile; and Memphis, which was up 6 cents to $2.61 per mile. Los Angeles dropped 14 cents last week to $2.53 per mile, which followed a 16-cent drop the previous week. In the flatbed market, loads posted climbed 3% and trucks posted were up 2.5%, but the national rate fell 2 cents to $2.40 per mile. Harrisburg, PA, saw an 18-cent increase to $3.76 per mile. Las Vegas climbed 7 cents to $2.89 and Houston was up 8 cents to $2.65. Like the dry van market, Los Angeles’ flatbed rates fell 14 cents to $2.53 per mile. Flatbed rates were also softer in the Midwest, including outbound from Rock Island, IL, which fell 16 cents to $3.03 per mile and Cleveland, which dropped 10 cents to $2.64 per mile. The national average reefer rate was unchanged at $2.70 per mile as load posts fell 10% and truck posts increased 7%. Capacity was in demand in Northeast hubs, DAT said, including Philadelphia where rates rose 16 cents to $3.46 per miler and Elizabeth, NJ, which was up 10 cents to $2.35. Reefer load counts and rates fell off sharply from Nogales, Arizona, as domestic produce begins to displace imports from the U.S.-Mexico border. Did you know?Chinese investors acquired more than $773 million in industrial real estate in the U.S. during 2017, according to a report from CBRE. Quotable:“The trucking industry is putting our money where our foot is. Trucking already pays half the nation’s highway funding tab, and we are ready to pay more. Through the Build America Fund, the trucking industry would invest upwards of an additional $112 billion into our nation’s roads and bridges over the next decade. Solving a challenge of this size requires big and bold solutions, and we call on Washington to step up with us.” - Chris Spear, ATA president, again calling on Washington to fund a designated infrastructure fund through fuel taxes More and more truckers are saying they’re running out of capacity | |
Should we be concerned? Truckers seem to be running out of room. That seems to be the takeaway from this year’s State of the North American Supply Chain study from transportation company Averitt Express. The report, which polled 1,600 shippers in late 2017, found that diminishing truck capacity is the industry’s “primary hurdle” this coming year. Last year, about 20 percent of truckers faced capacity issues, a rate that doubled from 2016. “Capacity is definitely the big ticket item now,” Brad Brown, Averitt’s marketing and communications manager, said in this report from the trade journal Fleet Owner. College professor shoots at truckers, trooper in Iowa | |
A college professor said to be seeking revenge for a family killed in an accident with a truck, allegedly fired a gun at several truck drivers and police in Iowa earlier this month. He has been charged with attempted murder and assault with a deadly weapon, and is is being held on a $1 million cash-only bond. 
Charles S. Johnston Davenport, Iowa’s Quad-City Times reports that an application for a search warrant states the Cedar County Sheriff’s Office received reports on the afternoon of Jan. 11 of a person shooting at vehicles along I-80. Reports also came from the Atalissa, Iowa Pilot truck stop that shots were being fired. Additionally, the warrant states a trucker was pulling out of the Pilot when a Volkswagen pulled in. The driver of the VW, later identified as Charles S. Johnston, pointed a handgun out the window and began firing at the trucker. Johnston reportedly circled around the truck to the passenger side, and the trucker swerved to pin the car under the trailer. Johnston then allegedly fired more shots into the passenger door of the truck. A member of the Iowa State Patrol arrived on scene, according to the report, and Johnston allegedly fired two shots at the trooper’s car. Neither the trucker nor the police officer were injured in the shooting. The warrant states the 60-year-old Johnston told police he had become “enraged or obsessed over a family that was killed in an accident with a semi and that the motive behind his actions was to harm a truck driver or truck drivers in retaliation.” Johnston, of Belvidere, Illinois, who was a psychology professor at Harper College in Palatine, Illinois, had also reportedly been taking several prescription drugs and had recently been hospitalized when he fired at the truckers and police. |
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