Fleet Capacity Shrinks as Demand Remains Soft

Freight Manager
Fuel Surcharge Update for the week of 12/30/2009 to 1/5/2010
Dept of Energy reports national average fuel price is $2.732
The http://www.fr8manager.com/ estimated fuel surcharge is $0.27 per mile or 16% of the line haul charge.
The complete chart of the Weekly Retail On-Highway Diesel Prices can be found at http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/oog/info/wohdp/diesel_detail_report_combined.asp

The third quarter of 2009 saw an additional 405 trucking fleets close up shop, bringing the total fleet failures through 3 quarters in 2009 to roughly 1,300. While 1,300 trucking fleets going out of business in the first 3 quarters of 2009 might seem alarming, it pales in comparison to the blistering rate of 2,690 fleets that failed during the same period of 2008. The total number of truck fleet failures in 2008 was 3,065. So lets recap, 3,065 fleets failed in 2008, and through the end of the third quarter of 2009 an additional 1,300 fleets have failed, bringing the combined total to 3,990 fleets out of business with one quarter still remaining in 2009.

So what does all this mean? In 2008 the trucking industry lost over 39,000 trucks, and thus far through 2009 has lost over 14,000 trucks. This is a staggering truck loss of over 53,000 units.

It is interesting to point out that the compiled numbers are easy to establish based on the number of companies closing their doors and adding together the number of trucks each one operated. The loss of over 53,000 trucks might seem large (and it is), but what we do not know is the number of trucks lost by operational trucking fleets that have simply parked and taken the units out of service. Freight Manager estimates the combined truck losses would exceed 100,000 truck units.

Many shippers ask how they can avoid, or minimize the risk of working with a trucking company on the verge of an impending bankruptcy or closure. The correct answer is to utilize the Freight Manager fully automated, web based trucking brokerage system. Most load shipping customers do not have the time or the resources to properly monitor the stability, insurance, and safety ratings of the trucking companies that they work with. In fact most shipping managers are aware of this issue, yet continue to roll the dice on trucking companies they know very little about.

Most shippers think or assume that they have no liability when a trucking company hauling their load is involved in a major accident. They could not be more wrong. Recently the courts have found shipping companies and some trucking brokers liable for contracting with unsafe and under or uninsured trucking companies. One major accident would potential bankrupt most companies.

Freight Manager has the ability to constantly monitor insurance, operating authority, and safety ratings of over 100,000 trucking fleets 24 hours a day, every day of the year. If you are not using Freight Manager or not regularly utilizing the Freight Manager system, you should be. Insulate and protect your business from costly liability, by contracting your truck shipments through Freight Manager http://www.fr8manager.com/ and taking advantage of our thorough safety standards and procedures.

Merry Christmas

From all of us here at FreightManager, we would like to wish you and your family a very Merry Christmas.

Our business offices will be closed for the long holiday weekend, and will reopen at 8AM eastern time on Monday December 28th.

Should you require FreightManager assistance during this time please contact our after hours staff at 863-398-1188.

Longer & Heavier Trucks

FreightManager
Fuel Surcharge Update for the week of 12/22/2009 to 12/28/2009
Dept of Energy reports national average fuel price is $2.726
The http://www.fr8manager.com/ estimated fuel surcharge is $0.27 per mile or 17% of the line haul charge.
The complete chart of the Weekly Retail On-Highway Diesel Prices can be found at http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/oog/info/wohdp/diesel_detail_report_combined.asp


In 2010 lawmakers in Washington are expected to continue the debate over longer and heavier trucks. Current proposals include longer trailers from the standard 53ft Dry Van, to a 57ft Dry Van, also extending the maximum vehicle length from 70ft to 75ft, as well as increasing the maximum gross weight limits from 80,000 lbs, to a whopping 96,000 lbs.

Now much like everything else that goes on in Washington, there are pros and cons to this issue. The environmentalists say that longer and heavier trucks, can carry more and will reduce the number of trucks on the road, effectively reducing the carbon footprint from trucking. Then there are those that question the safety of this proposal, sighting increased stopping distance on our already over crowded interstates. What about the nations aging and ailing bridges. Most truckloads that exceed the 80,000 lbs threshold are routed around certain bridges that can not support the weight. What will we do with these bridges? With no immediate plan or funding to repair and reinforce these bridges will the bridges suddenly become capable of supporting 96,000 lbs trucks by merely changing the weight limit sign at the foot of the bridge? Needless to say labor unions and support groups vehemently oppose this legislation, once again sighting safety concerns and loss of quality jobs of “skilled labor”. Interesting enough trucking groups can be found wavering on both sides of the issue. Some say more hauling capacity equals increased revenue to the truck, while others say just the opposite indicating that shippers will insist on maximizing load capacity without any additional compensation.

The issue of longer and heavier trucks will undoubtedly rage on and will cause much controversy in the coming months. The question is will we still be arguing these same points this time next year?

New blog for 2010

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The FreightManager blog is new for 2010 and is designed to keep our readers current on the ever changing issues that affect the transportation industry.

Your comments are always welcome, and from time to time we will survey your thoughts on various topics. We hope that you enjoy this blog and find yourself more informed each time you share your time with us.

From myself, Rob Napier CEO Fr8manager.com Inc, and the entire FreightManager family, thank you for reading and supporting our blog.