Trucking jobs dip in August
Trucking industry payroll employment dipped by 900 jobs in August, and previously reported increases for June and July dropped by another 900 jobs, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Sept. 2. The dip in August was the first since January. However, compared to August 2010, trucking employment is up by 40,000, or 3.2 percent.
Surface trade rises in June
Trade using surface transportation between the United States and Canada and Mexico rose 11 percent in June over a year earlier to $77.5 billion, according to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics of the U.S. Department of Transportation. The June total was 0.3 percent higher than May.
TCA, clinic hold weight-loss contest
The Truckload Carriers Association is partnering with Lindora Clinic to create a weight-loss contest aimed at truck drivers and other industry members. TCA will select five fleets to compete beginning Jan. 24. The fleet and individual winners will be announced in May.
June NAFTA ATA tonnage slips
The American Trucking Associations’ advance seasonally adjusted For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index decreased 1.3 percent in July from June after rising a revised 2.6 percent in June over May. The July index was 3.9 percent higher than a year earlier, ATA reported.
Shoemaker’s offers electrified parking spots
Shoemaker’s Travel Center on Interstate 80 in Lincoln, Neb., is the latest truckstop to add electrification by offering 24 electrified parking spaces. Shoemaker’s has signed up the national Shorepower Truck Electrification Project program to finance electrification at 50 truckstops over the next 18 months.
Trucker Buddy app available
Pen-pal program Trucker Buddy announced that it teamed up with uFollowit to develop a Trucker Buddy-branded smartphone application (for iPhone and Android) that allows drivers to take pictures on the road and automatically upload them to a secure site that Trucker Buddy teachers can access and share with students.
IdleAir announces expansion
Electrification services will expand from 21 sites currently in operation to 100 by the end of 2013 with more expansion planned, shorepower provider IdleAir announced. Regions targeted for site development include Interstate 95 along the East Coast, the Midwest, Southeast and Southwest, where demand is highest in the summer for air-conditioning service.