January 13, 2014
RWI Transportation LLC
The Department of Transportation’s freight transportation services index rose to a record high in November, DOT said Jan. 9.

The freight TSI increased 1.2% from October to an all-time high of 116.5, DOT’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics said in its monthly report.

The index rose 5.2% in November year-over-year, DOT said.

DOT uses a baseline reading of 100 from the year 2000.
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OKLAHOMA CITY -- Love's Travel Stops is expanding its commitment to compressed natural gas (CNG) with its 11th fueling location, opening at its Amarillo, Texas, travel stop. The company expects the site, which will offer fast-fill CNG fueling capability for heavy-duty trucks, to open by the second quarter of 2014.

"Our expansion signifies the natural progression of working with fleets interested in the fuel cost savings offered by Love's Fast-Fill CNG," said Jon Archard, director of fleet sales at Love's. He cited a $2-per-gallon-equivalent savings for CNG over diesel as a strong motivator for fleets to convert.
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OLYMPIA, Wash — The Legislature meets for a 60-day session this year to take up issues including transportation, mental health, medical marijuana, state pensions, abortion and tuition assistance for students who aren’t legal residents.

Democrats control the House and governor’s office, while a GOP-led majority controls the Senate. It’s an election year, so expect to see plenty of posturing by both sides.
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Tranzact Technologies
Walmart Canada’s "Super Cube" tractor-trailer is among six products considered by industry journalists for the next TWNA Technical Achievement Award. Seven editor-members of the Truck Writers of North America nominated products that caught their attention during 2013 and, after discussing them via e-mail, voted for their favorites. HDT’s Equipment Editor, Jim Park, was on the TWNA committee, chaired by James Menzies of Truck News-Canada in Toronto.
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Spot rates for truckload services are unusually high for this time of year. And that’s good news for an industry that has struggled for years with an increasing burden of regulations, seesawing fuel prices and razor-thin profit margins.
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The outlook for energy industries — and the resulting impact on consumers’ wallets — is mixed, with predictions of continued high levels of oil and natural gas production, moderating gasoline prices, firm or increasing natural gas prices and electricity rates rising as demand drives improvements to the delivery system.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration recently issued a report looking at trends through 2040 and sees a national decline in energy use by cars and light trucks of 25 percent due to an aging populace that drives less and increased fuel efficiency of vehicles.
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C.R. England
3GTMS, Inc., an industry leader in innovative, next generation transportation software for shippers and LSPs, is thrilled to kick off the implementation of their single platform solution with Flagship Logistics Group. 3GTMS will support contact center operations for Flagship Logistics Group, along with three regional brokerage offices, five strategically located temperature controlled distribution warehouses, multiple regional cross-dock/cold storage facilities and a reliable network of temperature-controlled carrier partners.

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Pacer is the largest provider of intermodal services in the fast-growing cross-border Mexico market. Cash and stock transaction valued at $335 million expected to be significantly and immediately accretive to earnings. Complementary service offerings will create significant opportunities to expand customer relationships. Transaction will double XPO's annual revenue run rate to $2 billion.
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WhiteWave Foods, the local Colorado bred company that operates brands such as Horizon and Silk, plans to acquire organic firm Earthbound Farm for $600 million in cash. Based in San Juan Bautista, CA. Earthbound Farm sells a variety of organic products, including salads, dried fruits and frozen fruits and vegetables. Earthbound Farm is expected to log more than $500 million in sales this year, said officials for WhiteWave Foods, which bases its North American operations in Broomfield.
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CRST International Inc. said it has acquired BESL Transfer Co., a Cincinnati-based flatbed carrier.

Cedar Rapids, Iowa-based CRST said the purchase will complement CRST Malone, a longhaul flatbed carrier the company bought in 1984. The flatbed carriers serve similar customer bases.
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United States Cold Storage, Inc.
Delegate Margaret Staggers announced plans Thursday to introduce a bill that would call for a constitutional amendment to put a $1.2 billion transportation bond on the ballot in November.

Staggers, D-Fayette, is chairwoman of the Roads and Transportation Committee of the House of Delegates. She made the announcement after a grim report on the state of West Virginia's transportation infrastructure.

One-third of West Virginia's locally- and state-maintained roads are in poor or mediocre condition, and one third of West Virginia's bridges show significant deterioration or do not meet current design standards, according to a new report from TRIP, a national nonprofit transportation research group.
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Once goods are formulated, processed and packed, the handling and logistics side of the food and beverage supply chain kicks into optimise delivery to retail shelves and add value to the business. FoodBev Media looks at some of the solutions available and investments made by leading players.

Better insights into the activities of fleet vehicles can hold the key to significant operational and logistical efficiency gains for food and beverage manufacturers. The wealth of driver and management tools that the latest fleet management systems offer enable companies to significantly drive down costs. Thousands of pounds in fuel savings can be made annually through enhanced routing, the better and swifter allocation of vehicles to jobs and improvements in driving performance standards.
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With bonus depreciation having expired at the end of 2013, many trucking companies are staring down the barrel of some huge estimated income tax payments in 2014.

For years, bonus depreciation has provided trucking companies with significant tax relief because of the net operating loss, or NOL, environments that bonus depreciation helped them to generate. Without that option, coupled with an improving economy, trucking companies selling their fully depreciated used trucks will be generating taxable income they no longer will be able to offset with the purchase of new equipment.

Paying necessary taxes can be tough. Paying unnecessary taxes simply makes no sense.
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Food Shippers of America
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