Tag: trucker: Page 9

Overdrive Extra
June is bustin’ out
It seems that for economic news, June is bustin’ out all over, to cite the song from the old play, “Carousel.” Well, not all over, but there were some strong items announced June 1. I hope you’re seeing evidence in your freight. The overall economy grew for the first time following seven months of decline, […]
June 1, 2009
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Managing acres of reefer freight
What company supplies food to a third of all U.S. restaurants, cafeterias, and sports stadiums? If you pull a reefer, chances are you well know that it’s Houston-based Sysco, which each year ships 21.5 million tons of produce, meats and other food-related products. Fortune magazine has an detailed look at the “complex web of software, […]
May 29, 2009
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Consumer confidence and housing
Your freight might be down, your dog might be snarling at you, but your fellow Americans are looking up, money-wise. At least relative to recent months, which isn’t saying too much. U.S. consumer confidence jumped in May to its highest level in eight months, according to the Conference Board, an industry group that measures this. […]
May 26, 2009
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Step right up for interest-free loan
It’s not every day someone offers you an interest-free loan. The U.S. Small Business Administration recently announced a program to do just that. As part of the stimulus package, SBA is launching America’s Recovery Capital loans June 15. The basics: Loans are up to $35,000. After you get the money, you have five years to […]
May 22, 2009
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Recovery on the back burner
As recently as April, manufacturing still looked mostly bad, notes the latest weekly roundup from Bob Costello, chief economist for the American Trucking Associations. April output grew for autos, paper, wood products and nonmetallic mineral products. It shrunk for furniture, primary metal and fabricated metal products. From a year ago, manufacturing production was down 14 […]
May 18, 2009
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Some positive trends for the first quarter
First quarter figures from ATBS show a few encouraging notes. Among all hauling segments, clients of the Denver-based owner-operator accounting firm saw average income rise from $3,892 in January to $4,074 in March, due in large part to low fuel prices. Flatbedders had a steady rise in miles, from 7,216 in January to 8,303 in […]
May 8, 2009
Overdrive Extra
Trucking meets swine flu in a variety of ways
Reports on trucking and swine flu have proliferated this week. Many media outlets picked up the Knoxville, Tenn., newspaper interview with Professional Drivers Medical Depots (cited here earlier), but other angles have followed. First, two on the lighter side: Everitt Mickey, one of the writers who contributes to International Trucks’ Life on the Road blog, […]
April 30, 2009
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Truckers and swine flu
News coverage of the spreading swine flu has pointed out the role of air travelers in spreading contagious disease. If you’re thinking that truckers, likewise being a highly mobile group, could help the swine flu bugs get around, you’re thinking like Dr. John McElligot, CEO of Professional Drivers Medical Depots.      He has put his […]
April 27, 2009
Overdrive Extra
Topics for coming webinars
Well over 100 owner-operators turned out Wednesday evening for Overdrive’s first webinar. Kevin Rutherford, our Dollars & Sense columnist and the host of ATBS Trucking Business & Beyond on Sirius XM, had a lot to say about “Surviving a difficult economy.” The overall reviews were overwhelmingly positive, and that’s saying a lot, coming from a […]
April 24, 2009
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Landstar rides out the storm
When the economy’s in a tailspin, some observers like to speculate that the owner-operator is about to become an endangered species. Indeed, many contractors have fallen out in recent months, but there’s no doubt about the potential for good operators to make money. The biggest owner-operator fleet, Landstar Systems, recently announced it earned $14 million […]
April 17, 2009
Overdrive Extra
Smile for the traffic camera
Traffic cameras are being used for more than red light monitoring these days. The Wall Street Journal gives an excellent update on how cities are increasingly using them to catch speeders and others by way of reading license plates.   The core app of red-light spying is still popular. And profitable. Tiny Schaumburg, Ill., put […]
March 31, 2009
Overdrive Extra
When oil abounds, prices fall
Plug the low price of diesel and gasoline into the supply-and-demand formula, and it tells you supplies are plentiful. True enough, and they’re getting more plentiful by the day. U.S. commercial crude oil inventories jumped 6.2 million barrels from the previous week, almost twice what was expected, according to Wednesday’s report from the U.S. Energy […]
January 29, 2009
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