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We are just a few short weeks away from our annual conference at the JW Marriott Desert Ridge Resort in Phoenix, AZ. Sold out in Janaury, the 2013 FSA Conference promises to be another great one. With registration and attendees at capacity, regrettably we cannot accommodate every last minute request for admission. Ross Cook, our golf chairman, is putting the final touches on the Sunday golf tournament and will have the foursomes posted in the conference hall and at the golf course prior to play. Golf is also sold out with 144 players in the morning and 144 teeing off at 1 p.m. Special golf gift bags will be presented upon check-in, sponsored by Union Pacific RR and Food Shippers of America. Our 2013 conference co-chairs, Renee Nielsen with Faribault Foods and Todd Feltes with MOM Brands, have done an outstanding job in putting together the session topics, speakers and agenda for this year’s event. For a preview of the 2013 FSA Conference Agenda, please visit our website at www.foodshippersofamerica.org.
The idea may seem crazy to Southern California drivers who navigate some of the worst traffic in the nation, but L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa is among those President Obama may be considering as his next Secretary of Transportation.
Learn More... After decades of failure to move anywhere on a modernized public transit system, metro Detroit has won federal backing -- and crucial cash -- for a streetcar system on Woodward Avenue that supporters say will boost the rebirth of downtown and Midtown and lay groundwork for even more rail options in the coming years.
Learn More... Kottke Trucking, Inc. was awarded the small business award by Twin City Business magazine & Associated Bank for the State of Minnesota, along with nine other small business entities. The awards banquet took place at the Radisson Plaza Hotel in downtown Minneapolis on Thursday, January 10, 2013. Here is a link to the story published in the January 2013 issue of Twin Cities Business magazine.
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The House Finance Committee approved Gov. Bob McDonnell's plan for a major transportation funding overhaul that would eliminate the state's gasoline tax and replace it with an increase in the state sales tax. The bill, sponsored by House Speaker William Howell, R-Stafford, was reported to the House floor Wednesday on a vote of 14-8.
Learn More... The Department of Transportation has updated its national transportation statistics web-only reference guide to national transportation data. DOT’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics released the quarterly information, which includes a wide range of national transportation information. The data consists of more than 260 tables of national data on the transportation system, safety, the economy and energy and the environment, of which 43 were updated in Friday’s report.
Learn More... Virtual Driver Interactive (VDI) announced it has added expanded lesson plans for semi-trucks and other large vehicles as part of its Virtual HD corporate fleet driver safety system. Designed in collaboration with trucking experts, the semi-truck Virtual HD version has all of the same content and features found in VDI’s current Virtual HD with the addition of content that focuses on major safety issues involved with driving and working around semi-trucks, said a company release.
Learn More... Purolator International is adding three branches during the first quarter of 2013, bringing its total number of branches to 33. Purolator opened another seven new branches during 2012. Offices are scheduled to open soon in Columbus, Newark and Phoenix. The company’s on-going addition of regional office expansions is indicative of the surge in demand for logistics experience and expertise in transporting goods between the United States and Canada.
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Picking up right where they left off in 2012, Ahern and Associates, Ltd., the nation’s top transportation acquisition firm announces eight new acquisition assignments from trucking, freight brokers, logistics and warehousing clients who want these needs filled fast. As has been previously noted, the CEO of the firm, Andy Ahern has quickly gained a nationwide reputation for not only being a market maker, but also demonstrating extreme speed to market.
Learn More... Phoenix-based regional truckload carrier Swift Transportation reported profit in the fourth quarter of 2012 was $46.9 million, jumping 27.3 percent from $36.8 million in the fourth quarter of 2011. Quarterly revenue was $922.6 million, up 7.2 percent year-over-year from $860.7 million.
Learn More... The search is on, once again, for the safest fleets in North America, with Volvo seeking recipients for its annual Volvo Trucks Safety Award. For the fifth consecutive year, two fleets with the safest driving records and top safety programs will receive $25,000 to be used toward their safety-related activities. Michelin will once again be joinging Volvo Trucks as sponsor, officials announced.
Learn More... With the U.S. government standing in its way, can the King of Beer rescue its $20 billion deal to buy Mexico’s largest brewer? The Justice Department sued last week to block Anheuser-Busch InBev’s plan to buy full control of Grupo Modelo, the brewer of Corona beer. The Justice Department argues that the brewer’s pending deal to buy the half of Modelo it doesn’t already own violates the Clayton Act, passed in 1914 to block mergers and acquisitions that lessen competition. Though AB InBev already owns half of Modelo, the Mexican brewer structured the ownership stake in a way that allows Modelo to remain independent. Five years ago, Belgium based InBev bought St. Louis based Anheuser-Busch, while SABMiller PLC and Molson Coors Brewing Co. combined their U.S. and Puerto Rican operations.
Fleets can learn a lot from the report cards that emerge through carrier safety rating systems. The underlying data can be used to track everything from how well a business complies with regulations, to trends in mechanical problems that are spotted during roadside inspections.
Learn More... Hino Trucks has ranked highest in customer satisfaction in the Conventional Medium Duty Engines category for the fifth year in a row as part of J.D. Power and Associates’ 2012 customer satisfaction study. The study measured customer perceptions of 2011 model-year Class 5, 6 and 7 trucks equipped with both gasoline and diesel engines.
Learn More... Mack Trucks has launched its Twin Y air suspension, which uses a Y-shaped steel design for higher-strength. Offered with proprietary Mack axles, officials say the Twin Y – which is up to 400 lbs lighter than other air suspensions – is designed for highway customers desiring a smoother, more stable ride.
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