Intermodal Shipments Increase in Third Quarter

CALVERTON, MD -- Despite month-to-month variations, third quarter intermodal freight traffic growth in Canada and the U.S. of 3.4 percent was in line with year-to-date results, according to new figures from the Intermodal Association of North America (IANA).

Major Hurdle Cleared for In-Transit Shipments

ROCKY VIEW, AB -- There is much joy in at least one part of trucking following news that the ability of carriers from both Canada and U.S. to conduct in-transit shipments through the other country is close to being achieved.

Canada-U.S. Freight Value Falls Nearly 14 Percent

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The value of freight movements between the U.S. and Canada fell significantly in August, according to a new report. The U.S. Transportation Department reports it totaled US$48 billion in August, down 13.6 percent from August 2014, as all modes of transportation carried less value of U.S.-Canada freight than a year earlier, due to lower mineral fuel prices.

U.S. Increasing Cross-Border Fees for Some Shipments

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) announced it will publish its final rule on Oct. 29 that adjusts the fees the U.S. government charges to recoup the costs of conducting agricultural quarantine inspections (AQI) at U.S. ports of entry for all modes of transportation and many in Canadian trucking are speaking out against the move.

TransForce Profit Jumps, Exiting Rig Moving, Eyeing U.S.

MONTREAL, QC - Trucking giant TransForce Inc. did more than just release its third quarter earnings on Thursday showing an increase in profitability. It announced it was getting out of one business while saying the next day where it was setting its sights for future growth.

PIT Group Boosting U.S. Testing Presence

PHILADELPHIA, PA and MONTREAL, QC - A Canadian engineering and research group for the North American trucking industry announced at the 2015 American Trucking Associations' (ATA) Management Conference and Exhibition this week the opening of a U.S. office and a significant increase in its presence in the United States. Performance Innovation Transport (PIT) Group is opening an office in Atlanta, GA and is adding the U.S. as the location for road testing of its technology certification process known as Energotest. Using stringent SAE/TMC testing protocols, PIT Group will now hold two Energotest events in Canada and two in the U.S. each year. "PIT Group has become the benchmark for precise, verified and unbiased data on the return on investment fleets can expect from green technologies in Canada," said Yves Provencher, director of PIT Group. "With the continual need to improve competitiveness and the increase in environmental compliance restrictions, the demand for green technologies has never been stronger. Our U.S. office will enable us to offer the level of service and experience we've been providing Canadian fleets and that U.S. fleets expect."

Average Canadian Diesel Cost Unchanged, U.S. Declines

LONDON, ON and WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The national average price of diesel remained steady in Canada this week while it resumed moving lower to the south.

Truck Cargo Thefts Trending Downward

JERSEY CITY, NJ -- Cargo thieves in the U.S. and Canada stole more than US$22.5 million in cargo in third-quarter 2015, according to the newly released figures from theft prevention and recovery services provider CargoNet.

ATA Chief: Trucking ‘Good’ but ‘Not Great’ in U.S.

PHILADELPHIA, PA -- In a speech here at the American Trucking Associations' Management Conference and Exhibition, ATA President and CEO Bill Graves said he saw continued growth for the U.S. trucking industry and strong gains in its agenda, provided lawmakers take action on necessary legislation.

Ambassador Bridge Installing Streamlined Toll Service

ALBANY, NY, and DETROIT MI. - The owner of the Ambassador Bridge and a company that provides toll management services to truck fleets announced a collaboration to streamline toll service for commercial vehicles using the span to travel between Detroit and Windsor, ON.

Companies Ready to Start Work on New International Bridge

WINDSOR, ON - Six different teams made up of Canadian, American and international companies have offered up their services to built the Gordie Howe International Bridge. The Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority (WDBA), which is managing the project to build the span connecting Windsor, ON and Detroit, MI, announced on Wednesday it received a strong response to its request for qualifications (RFQ) it made in July.

U.S. Trucking Regulators Defend Controversial Safety System

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Federal trucking regulators in the U.S. are defending a key safety system used to identify trucking companies that have a high risk of being in crashes. A new report from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has to do with the agency's Safety Measurement System (SMS), rolled out four years ago as part of the Comprehensive Safety Analysis (CSA) program, designed to improve trucking industry safety. According to the agency, the report found that SMS effectively identifies trucking companies involved in 90 percent of the more than 100,000 crashes that occur each year in the U.S., and those that are identified as high-risk carriers continue to have crash rates that are twice the national average. SMS, as well as, CSA, have come under fire by some groups in trucking as well as by certain U.S. lawmakers, claiming the measures often make safe trucking operaitons look bad.

Roadrunner Expands Outbound Toronto Service

CUDAHY, WI - The trucking company Roadrunner Transportation Systems Inc. has expanded its less-than-truckload offering to include outbound service from Toronto while getting new leadership for its Canadian operations.

Diesel Prices Bounce Back Slightly in Canada, U.S.

LONDON, ON AND WASHINGTON, D.C. - Prices for diesel fuel bounced back in both Canada and the U.S. while gasoline moved lower. The average Canadian price for diesel inched up $0.008 over the past week to $1.029 per liter, following two straight weekly drops totaling $0.015, according to the petroleum information services provider The Kent Group Ltd.

Large Carriers Lead on Rates, Driver Retention, Revenue

INDIANAPOLIS, IN -- Bigger fleets are leading the industry when it comes to bringing in the most money, at least in the U.S. That's according to the finding of a second annual trucking operations benchmarking survey from the accounting firm of Katz, Sapper & Miller (KSM) and trucking software provider McLeod Software.