Check Call: That lemonade stand looks rough

Check Call: That lemonade stand looks rough

Welcome to Check Call, our corner of the internet for all things 3PL, freight broker and supply chain. Check Call the podcast comes out every Tuesday at 12:30 p.m. EDT. Catch up on previous episodes here. If this was forwarded to you, sign up for Check Call the newsletter here.

In this edition: Earnings season highlights, the rise in flatbed demand and Roadcheck starts Wednesday.

(Image: makeameme.org)

How’d the lemonade stand do? This earnings season...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/check-call-that-lemonade-stand-looks-rough

SONAR Sightings: Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, gains market share; flatbed rejections nose-dive

The highlights from Thursday’s SONAR reports are below. For more information on SONAR — the fastest freight-forecasting platform in the industry — or to request a demo, click here. Also, be sure to check out the latest SONAR update, TRAC — the freshest spot rate data in the industry.

Market Watch for Sept. 15:Harrisburg, Pennsylvania

Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, has experienced a boom in outbound volume to become the third-largest truckload market in the country by market share.

Outbound volumes are...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/sonar-sightings-harrisburg-pennsylvania-gains-market-share-flatbed-rejections-nose-dive

FreightWaves Classics: Crete Carrier Corporation keeps moving

A Crete Carrier tractor-trailer on the road. (Photo: Jim Allen/FreightWaves)

Crete Carrier Corporation was founded as a family-owned company in Crete, Nebraska in 1966. Today, it is one of the largest privately owned trucking companies in the country. The company has three divisions – Crete Carrier, Shaffer Trucking and Hunt Transportation.

Now headquartered in Nebraska’s capital city of Lincoln, Crete Carrier serves customers throughout the continental United States. The company operates 20 terminals around the country to serve its drivers.

Crete Carrier's earliest days. (Photo: Crete Carrier Corporation)Crete Carrier’s earliest...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/freightwaves-classics-crete-carrier-corporation-keeps-moving

Why is flatbed trucking so dangerous?

The cab of commercial truck that has been smashed by a flatbed load

Mike’s first flatbed delivery was about 20 years ago when he transported a load of granite tombstones during a cold, snowy day and night in Minnesota. Having just finished driver orientation and training for a flatbed carrier, he was looking to make money right away. 

Hauling that load of tombstones paid well but …

“Nobody told me what it was going to be like,” said Mike, who spoke to FreightWaves on the condition of not using his last name. 

“I went there totally unprepared. It was a difficult...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/flatbed-trucking-driver-deaths

Check Call with Kurtis Tryber: Rise of the flatbed

people gathered around a desk of computers. Check Call news and analysis for 3pls and brokers

On this week’s episode of Check Call, host Mary O’Connell and Kurtis Tryber, CEO and co-founder of EXO Freight, discuss all things flatbed: what types of materials run on flatbed, how to find flatbed loads, the evolution of flatbed shippers out of the dark ages and embracing technology.

Also on the podcast is a quick rundown of shipping nightmares at sea. Most recently the car carrier Felicity Ace caught on fire, taking down about 4,000 luxury cars from the Volkswagen family for a total loss of...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/check-call-with-kurtis-tryber-rise-of-the-flatbed

Another quarter, another record at Landstar

No seasonal letup in demand during January, Landstar says

After logging the highest sequential improvement in truck volumes from the third to fourth quarters in company history, freight broker Landstar System said normal seasonality still hasn’t kicked in as there has been no letup in demand so far in January.

The Jacksonville, Florida-based company reported fourth-quarter earnings per share of $2.99 Wednesday after the market closed. The result was a quarterly record and 11 cents ahead of its raised expectations (at the midpoint of the range) at the...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/another-quarter-another-record-at-landstar

Flatbed carrier invests in vocational schools to combat labor shortage

The pandemic’s effect on markets and consumers has been well documented: When consumers shifted their spending away from services and toward goods and bought more of those goods online, supply chain capacity and infrastructure came under enormous pressure. 

For many people, the pandemic also spurred an attitude shift regarding work, leading to an increase of early retirement or a desire for more fulfilling jobs. According to a 2021 survey from the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, job...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/flatbed-carrier-invests-in-vocational-schools-to-combat-labor-shortage

Truck driver killed hauling load of steel sheet piles

The driver of a flatbed truck was killed Tuesday when the load he was hauling smashed through his cab, according to the California Highway Patrol.

The accident occurred just before 3 p.m. on Interstate 8 about 25 miles east of San Diego when the truck driver, who has not been identified, abruptly applied his brakes. It caused what was reported to be an improperly secured load of steel sheet pile to shift forward.

“This caused the load to penetrate the back cab of the truck and impale the driver,”...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/truck-driver-killed-hauling-load-of-steel-sheet-piles

FreightWaves Classics: A. Duie Pyle has been delivering service for nearly 100 years

An A. Duie Pyle moving truck from early in the company's history. (Photo: aduiepyle.com)
Alexander Duie Pyle and his wife Mary Ellen. (Photo: aduiepyle.com)Alexander Duie Pyle and his wife Mary Ellen. (Photo: aduiepyle.com)

In 1924, Alexander Duie Pyle worked for Lukens Steel in Coatesville, Pennsylvania. But he wanted to own his own business, so he purchased two trucks and began A. Duie Pyle, a trucking company. Lukens Steel (now part of ArcelorMittal), his former employer, became Pyle’s first customer (a relationship that lasted more than 90 years). 

Nearly 100 years later, A. Duie Pyle, Inc. is one of the largest trucking companies in the...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/freightwaves-classics-a-duie-pyle-has-been-delivering-service-for-nearly-100-years

Flatbed operator Daseke posts Q3 beat, eyes M&A

Daseke beats Q3 but pauses guidance.

Flatbed truckload provider Daseke said on a call with analysts Friday it was working on a couple of potential acquisitions. The nation’s largest flatbed carrier reported third-quarter adjusted earnings per share of 43 cents, 11 cents ahead of the consensus estimate and 19 cents better than the year-ago quarter.

Getting back to M&A

Management said it’s working on a couple of potential deals. It is targeting fleets with fewer than 100 trucks (roughly 50,000 fleets, according to its estimates) in...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/flatbed-operator-daseke-posts-q3-beat-eyes-ma

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