Trucking

FedEx teams with BigCommerce on shipping discounts

FedEx Corp. (NYSE: FDX) has forged an alliance with BigCommerce, a venture-backed e-commerce platform, to help small and medium-sized businesses sell their products as the inexorable march by brick and mortar retailers toward online selling accelerates during the COVID-19 pandemic.

With more than 60,000 stores and brands on its platform, BigCommerce aims to help small, medium and large businesses create “great storefront experiences,” so they can sell more with as little friction as possible,...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/fedex-teams-with-bigcommerce-on-shipping-discounts

Trimble tackles work zone safety with reduced speed alerts

Work zone safety

More than 18,000 work zone crashes a year involve tractor-trailer trucks. Many times, the reason is the sudden nature of slowing traffic as the trucks approach a work zone, leaving the truck drivers without enough room to safely slow or stop their vehicles. According to data from the National Work Zone Safety Information Clearinghouse, there were 672 fatal crashes in work zones in 2018, with 203 of them involving a truck.

Trimble, in partnership with Purdue University, is out to change these...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/trimble-tackles-work-zone-safety-with-reduced-speed-alerts

Evaluating the Need for Dedicated Fleets in the Era of Digitalized Transportation

dhl truck

Mark Kunar, EVP, Strategy, Transportation and Automotive, Engineering & Manufacturing, Chemical & Energy, DHL Supply Chain, North America

Shippers may feel like they are being pulled in two different directions when it comes to dedicated fleet solutions.

On one hand, they are seeing a technological revolution occurring in transportation management. More robust TMS platforms supported by business intelligence tools, tracking systems and online brokerage platforms are creating new opportunities to...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/evaluating-the-need-for-dedicated-fleets-in-the-era-of-digitalized-transportation

Magnus helps carriers streamline operations, increase visibility

Magnus helps carriers streamline operations, increase visibility (Photo: Jim Allen/FreightWaves)

The trucking industry is among the U.S. economy’s largest sectors, valued at roughly $800 billion annually. However, fragmentation and the sheer number of small- and mid-tier fleets operating within the market has hindered the adoption of technology within the industry. Many asset-based carriers in the market today still run their processes on outdated systems, struggling with inefficiency and a general lack of visibility into operations. 

Traditionally, trucking businesses have operated on slim...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/magnus-helps-carriers-streamline-operations-increase-visibility

Hub Group’s volume declines accelerate in April

On its first quarter 2020 earnings call, intermodal marketing company Hub Group’s (NASDAQ: HUBG) management team said that they expect second quarter volumes to deteriorate further. April revenue is down 15% to 18% year-over-year company-wide, accelerating from the 10% decline reported during the first quarter.

The company’s intermodal and brokerage segments are expected to see the largest negative impact from the COVID-19-related demand degradation. Intermodal volumes were down 16%...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/hub-groups-volume-declines-accelerate-in-april

TuSimple taps UPS and Walmart execs to head strategy and fleet operations

TuSimple, an autonomous trucking technology company, has hired UPS (NYSE: UPS) and Walmart (NYSE: WMT) leaders to head its strategy and fleet operations, as the China- and San Diego-based company apparently staves off the economic carnage that has hit other startups in the self-driving industry.

Lee White, who spent 35 years at UPS in various leadership roles, will serve as TuSimple’s vice president of strategy. Conrad Miller, who spent 15 years as an executive in Walmart’s technology and...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/tusimple-taps-ups-and-walmart-execs-to-head-strategy-and-fleet-operations

Breaking: Ransomware attack hits Massachusetts trucking company

A family-owned Massachusetts trucking company has fallen victim to a ransomware attack, according to a cybersecurity expert who alerted FreightWaves to the situation early Thursday.

A representative of Tom Berkowitz Trucking Inc. of Whitinsville, Massachusetts, confirmed the ransomware attack to FreightWaves but would not comment further.

The recycling company, which has been in operation since 1981, has 16 trucks and 13 drivers, according to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/ransomware-attack-hits-massachusetts-trucking-company

Universal Logistics’ profits plunge nearly 30% as COVID-19 hits truckload

A tractor-trailer of Universal Logistics Holdings

Universal Logistics Holdings (NASDAQ:ULH) reported on Thursday that its profits fell by almost 30% during the first quarter as COVID-19-related slowdowns in manufacturing and retail hit its truckload and dedicated operations. 

Universal Logistics had a net income of $12.2 million, or 45 cents per share, on $382.2 million in revenues during the quarter. Net income came in 29.4% lower than a year earlier, while revenues increased by 1.2%.

CEO Tim Phillips characterized the results as “pretty solid”...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/universal-logistics-profits-plunge-nearly-30-as-covid-19-hits-truckload

TIA’s Voltmann, in video, defends brokers against anger over rates

In an extraordinary video, the head of the largest brokers trade association defended his industry from the online and on-the-highway criticisms from carriers facing increasingly weak freight rates.

Bob Voltmann, president and CEO of the Transportation Intermediaries Association (TIA), took to YouTube with a roughly three-and-a-half-minute video in which he ripped views of the market that “some snake oil salesman would have you believe.”

“There’s a lot being said about truck rates and brokers...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/tias-voltmann-in-video-defends-brokers-against-anger-over-rates

Major truck suppliers bank on electrification in COVID-19 triage

Dana Meritor illustration

Two major trucking suppliers reported lower sales for the first three months of the year as expected Thursday, but even facing a business slowdown of uncertain length, they continue to spend on electrification programs that could eventually transform the industry.

Meritor Inc. (NYSE: MTOR) and Dana Inc. (NYSE: DAN) suggested battery-electric efforts for major customers are untouchable as they navigate the COVID-19 pandemic that has shuttered their facilities and left them scrambling to conserve...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/major-truck-suppliers-bank-on-electrification-in-covid-19-triage

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