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OKLAHOMA CITY —  Love’s Travel Stops has launched its annual fundraising campaign for Children’s Miracle Network (CMN) Hospitals from Aug. 25 – Sept. 29. This campaign will benefit kids and their caregivers in 116 CMN hospitals across the U.S. At Love’s Travel Stops, country stores and Speedco locations, customers will have several ways to donate to the cause. At these locations, customers can purchase balloons for $1, $5 or $20 each, round up their purchase or make a cash contribution. At Love’s hotels, teddy bears are available for $19.99 each. Through the Love’s Connect app on Friday, Sept. 29, customers can purchase any size coffee or hot beverage for $1 for National Coffee Day. All proceeds will go to CMN hospitals. “Thank you to our team members and customers for stepping up each year and supporting this amazing cause,” said Jenny Love Meyer, Love’s chief culture officer and executive vice president. “It’s inspiring to see how our team members are committed to asking every customer to donate and how they go above and beyond in coming up with new, innovative, grassroots fundraising ideas. Our loyal customers are amazing, and because of their continued generosity, we are closing in on $50 million of lifetime fundraising for this campaign. When they reach into their pockets and hearts to help children, it means the world to us because we know when we change kids’ health, we change the future — for all of us.” Love’s and CMN Hospitals have been partners since 1999, with Love’s raising $46 million. Also joining the fundraising efforts are Musket Corporation and Trillium Energy Solutions, two Love’s family companies. They will host their annual sponsorship-led Drive for a Child event in October at Topgolf Houston for the Texas Children’s Hospital. “Anytime we’re traveling, Love’s is the only place we stop if at all possible,” said Carre Stowell, a mom of twin girls who received treatment from Children’s Health Foundation facilities in Oklahoma. “Since our journey in the NICU, we know whether it’s here in Oklahoma or in other states, Love’s is supporting a local children’s hospital. We know that any donations we make are going to a good cause. So that’s where we’re stopping to spend our money. It doesn’t have to be a lot to make a difference.” The funds raised for and by CMN Hospitals provide 32 million treatments annually to children across the U.S. and Canada, no matter the circumstances. All funds stay local and fund hospitals in each community.

ORAN, Mo. — Finloc 2000 Inc. has launched FinPark, a new app that enables carriers, drivers and freight brokers to reserve safe truck parking. In the U.S. and Canada, there are approximately 3.7 million truck drivers, and 78% are searching for parking daily, according to a Finloc news release. Finloc is launching the beta version of FinPark on the Apple and Google Play marketplace and a website portal for parking lot owners to manage reservations, inventory and gate management. The product has been tested by carriers and drivers ahead of a wider rollout with freight brokerages.     “FinPark is also rooted in predictive route guidance, while also lowering drivers’ environmental footprint and mitigating risk,” the news release stated. To meet the specific needs of a decades-long problem, FinPark hired truck parking veteran Anthony Petitte as chief operating officer to lead all secure parking efforts. Petitte founded a similar application called TruckPark in 2016. He and his co-founding partner had secured 22% of the U.S. parking market share prior to being acquired in fall 2021, the news release noted. “The truck parking shortage has been impacting the industry for decades and has only continued to worsen as demand for trucking increases,” according to the news release. “The scarcity of suitable parking spaces places drivers in an extremely difficult situation: they are compelled to operate outside the legal boundaries until they locate a safe spot, opt to park in hazardous or unauthorized areaas, endangering themselves and other motorists, or most commonly, they must halt their journey prematurely, resulting in wasted time and financial losses.”  With FinPark, property owners across North America can allocate space for long-and short-term truck parking. “FinPark’s mission is to optimize the use of the millions of truck drivers on the road searching for secure parking,” Petitte said. “FinPark is designed for long-distance journeys, but we are seeing a steady increase in short-haul drivers and fleets looking to store their equipment for 30 days or more. It was, therefore, natural to create a solution that meets those needs specifically, to overcome the current hurdles to secure truck parking in areas where parking is difficult to find, and to develop its usage at scale.”   Finloc President Sebastien Blouin said that in order to adequately address the truck parking challenge, “it was necessary to design an entirely new application from scratch and address drivers’ constraints and expectations. By adding FinPark to our suite of companies, we hope to write a new chapter in the history of truck parking.” Click here to download the FinPark app.

ATLANTA — Relay Payments is hitting the track full speed after announcing a sponsorship with Hendrick Motorsports and NASCAR driver No. 24 William Byron. The announcement was made earlier this summer. “The sponsorship comes with the opportunity to show appreciation to truck drivers while also expanding Relay’s brand,” said Spencer Barkoff, co-founder and president of Relay. Founded in 2019, Relay offers a digital payment network designed to increase efficiency, reduce fraud, improve driver satisfaction and eliminate operational headaches by helping carriers manage their over-the-road expenses, including unloading and fuel payments. Relay’s partnership with Hendrick and NASCAR includes associate sponsorship in all remaining 2023 races as well as two primary paint schemes in the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs — Sept. 16 at Bristol Motor Speedway during Truck Driver Appreciation Week and Oct. 15 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway As part of the agreement, Relay’s logo appears on the No. 24 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, team equipment, and the uniforms of Byron and crew members. At just 25 years old, Byron is already a seven-time race winner at the elite NASCAR Cup level. He also sees the vital role trucking plays in the sport. “Our truck drivers are crucial members of our race teams,” Byron said. “They’re responsible for getting our race cars and equipment to and from the racetrack every weekend throughout the longest season in sports. Without them, we wouldn’t be able to race.” Jeff Gordon, vice chairman of Hendrick Motorsports, is quick to agree. “Truck drivers are the unsung heroes of our industry. The race cars Hendrick Motorsports fields each weekend are driven hundreds or thousands of miles to the racetrack to compete in front of our amazing fans,” he said. “But truck drivers are vital to many industries, and the efficiency of Relay helps deliver products and services to businesses and customers in a quicker manner that benefits a lot of people. Hendrick Motorsports is of the same mindset — be the first to the finish line.” Joe Anderson, a lifelong fan of NASCAR and who’s been a trucker for nearly two decades, will be hauling the race car to race and event venues. He says using Relay Payments’ fuel service will streamline the journey. “As a team, we will get speed services to cut our time at truck stops,” Anderson said. “Refueling won’t take as long since we can bypass the payment steps at the pump. That means a lot to me because I hate wasting time. “We need truckers,” he continued. “Outside of NASCAR, every aspect of life depends on the existence of truckers,” Anderson said. “People need to be more aware of that and appreciative of it as well.” Ryan Droege, co-founder and CEO of Relay, hopes the NASCAR sponsorship will draw the public’s attention to the importance of trucking. “We know that the trucking industry and NASCAR have always had a special bond, and we’re excited about promoting our brand and highlighting drivers through this partnership with Hendrick Motorsports,” he said. Barkoff agrees. “Without the transportation industry, the entire country would come to a halt,” he said. “Whatever item you look at in the store was on a truck at some point in its existence.”

COLUMBUS, Ind. — It was a full day on Wednesday, Aug. 23, at the 69th Market Vitals conference hosted by ACT Research. Presented at The Commons, an architectural masterpiece in downtown Columbus, the first day of the conference featured industry experts and subject matter experts delivering to a crowd representing carriers, customers and suppliers.  After brief remarks by ACT President and Senior Analyst Kenny Vieth, ACT Principal and Industry Analyst Jim Meil began the presentation with an update on the economy. While the predicted economic recession is still possible, it is unlikely, he said.  As confusing as it may seem in light of recent reports, Meil’s conclusion is appropriate for the mixed signals coming from different sectors of the economy. Interest rate hikes from the Federal Reserve have slowed the rate of inflation, but not down to the 2% level that is the goal.  Miel predicts there will be yet another interest rate hike before the increases end. But, he warns, the upcoming election could bring political pressure on the Fed to start reducing rates as consumers become dissatisfied with high-interest loans and credit card debt.  Reducing rates, however, could send inflation soaring again.  High interest rates drive up the price of home mortgages, resulting in fewer homebuyers. That’s a condition that can result in less freight for the industry.  David Teolis, former deputy chief economist for General Motors, explained that signals he’s seeing from the economy are still mixed.  For example, the interest rate on Treasury Bills (or T-bills) has been inverted for 13 consecutive months, something that almost always signals a recession. Under normal conditions, the longer the term of the T-bill, the better the interest rate. When inversion occurs, short-term T-bills pay better than long-term bills. Investors don’t want to invest long-term because the rate of inflation could negate any profits they earn.   Miel also pointed out that credit is tightening as more lenders increase restrictions on loans — and that means fewer borrowers will qualify. This is another sign that a recession could be imminent.  Other signs, however, aren’t pointing toward a big downturn. Unemployment usually goes up just before a recession, but U.S. numbers have remained stubbornly low at around 3.5%. Despite higher credit costs, the housing market hasn’t crashed and capital expenditures by businesses remain high.   One possibility, Miel suggested, is a “rolling” recession, where different sectors of the economy fail at different times. Transportation has had its share of issues in the past year, and manufacturing could be next. 

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The union representing 340,000 UPS workers said on Tuesday, Aug. 22, that its members voted to approve the tentative contract agreement reached last month, putting a final seal on contentious labor negotiations that threatened to disrupt package deliveries for millions of businesses and households nationwide. The Teamsters said in a statement that 86% of the votes casts were in favor of ratifying the contract. They also said it was passed by the highest vote for a contract in the history of the Teamsters at UPS. The union also said more than 40 supplemental agreements were also ratified, expect for one that covers roughly 170 members in Florida. The national master agreement will go into effect as soon as that supplement is renegotiated and ratified, it said. “Our members just ratified the most lucrative agreement the Teamsters have ever negotiated at UPS,” Teamsters General President Sean M. O’Brien said in a statement. “This contract will improve the lives of hundreds of thousands of workers. ”He said the contract set a new standard for pay and benefits. “This is the template for how workers should be paid and protected nationwide, and nonunion companies like Amazon better pay attention,” he said, giving a nod to the union’s growing ambitions to take on the e-commerce behemoth. Voting on the new five-year contract began Aug. 3 and concluded on Aug. 22. After negotiations broke down in early July, Atlanta-based UPS reached a tentative contract agreement with the Teamsters just days before an Aug. 1 deadline. The company had said it expected bargaining to restart if members rejected the deal, but that could have also opened the door to a strike. Under the tentative agreement, full- and part-time union workers will get $2.75 more per hour in 2023, and $7.50 more in total by the end of the five-year contract. Starting hourly pay for part-time employees also got bumped up to $21, but some workers said that fell short of their expectations. UPS says that by the end of the new contract, the average UPS full-time driver will make about $170,000 annually in pay and benefits. It’s not clear how much of that figure benefits account for. As part of the agreement, the delivery company also agreed to make Martin Luther King Jr. Day a full holiday, end forced overtime on drivers’ days off and stop using driver-facing cameras in cabs, among a host of other issues. It eliminated a two-tier wage system for drivers and tentative deals on safety issues were also reached, including equipping more trucks with air conditioning. Union members, angered by a contract they say union leadership forced on them five years ago, argued that they have shouldered the more than 140% profit growth at UPS as the pandemic increased delivery demand. Unionized workers said they wanted to fix what they saw as a bad contract. The Teamsters’ leadership was upended two years ago with the election of O’Brien, a vocal critic of union President James Hoffa — son of the famed Teamsters firebrand — who signed off on the previous contract. The 24 million packages UPS ships daily amount to about a quarter of all U.S. parcel volume, according to the global shipping and logistics firm Pitney Bowes. UPS says that’s equivalent to about 6% of the nation’s gross domestic product. This isn’t the first showdown the union has had with the delivery company. During the last breakdown in labor talks a quarter of a century ago, 185,000 UPS workers walked out for 15 days, crippling the company’s ability to function. A walkout this time would have had much further-reaching implications, with millions of Americans now accustomed to online shopping and speedy delivery. The consulting firm Anderson Economic Group estimated a 10-day UPS strike could have cost the U.S. economy more than $7 billion and triggered “significant and lasting harm” to the business and workers. When the union and UPS were at a stalemate in July, large and small businesses worked to create contingency plans in the event of a strike. .Labor experts say they see the showdown as a demonstration of labor power at a time of low U.S. union membership. This summer, Hollywood actors and screenwriters have been picketing over pay issues. United Auto Workers are considering a potential strike. “Together we reached a win-win-win agreement on the issues that are important to Teamsters leadership, our employees and to UPS and our customers,” Carol Tomé, UPS CEO, said when the tentative deal was announced. Industry groups, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, labor leaders and President Joe Biden also applauded the deal.

More carriers are leaving the marketplace while fewer are starting up, according to July data from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. New carrier starts (those that received their authority to conduct business) declined by more than 7% during the month, bringing the year-to-date decline to 29%. According to information received from the Motive Monthly Economics Report, the number of carriers with more than five trucks that left the industry increased from 12% to 17% in July. That means more drivers will be looking for new jobs — including more than 22,000 former drivers at Yellow Corp. At the same time, the U.S. Department of Labor reported there are fewer trucking jobs available. Motive suggests the rate of contraction will continue for a while longer as carriers continue to close up shop. However, owners of some of those trucks may return to the workforce as company drivers, so the exact impact is hard to measure. While it sounds ominous, market “contraction” actually benefits carriers in the long run — at least the ones that are still operating — because declining numbers of trucks (supply) generally leads to increasing freight rates as competition for available trucks rises. Increased rates aren’t happening yet, according to the latest DAT Trendlines report. The number of spot loads posted on the DAT loadboard decreased in July by 19.5% from June postings and was down 50.3% from postings in July 2022. Empty truck postings were also down, but by smaller percentages. There are still more available trucks than there is freight, keeping rates depressed. Average dry van spot rates, according to DAT, declined by 0.7% in July and were 21.8% lower than in July 2022. Refrigerated spot rates also fell — by 2.2% from June and by 18.9% from a year ago. Flatbed rates fell by 2.9% from June and were 22.6% lower than July 2022. “Spot rates, as a reminder, are ‘all-in’ rates, meaning no separate fuel surcharge to help mitigate the risk of fuel price fluctuations. You have to negotiate each individual load with fuel and operating costs in mind, which is not always easy,” said Ken Adamo, chief of analytics at DAT. “The sudden increase in fuel prices is testing the wherewithal of small carriers at a time when freight volumes are in a seasonal lull.” DAT’s Truckload Volume Index for July also showed drops. Van loads were down 7% from June and 3% lower year over year. Reefer slipped 3.4% from June but was 1.2% higher year over year, and flatbed dropped 8% from June but rose 3.5% year over year. “Shippers faced service disruptions at the ports and in the less-than-truckload sector but were able to secure van capacity without causing the needle to move on spot rates and volumes,” Adamosaid. Despite month-over-month declines, the reefer and flatbed TVI numbers were the highest on record for July as fresh and frozen food, metals, machinery, construction materials and other seasonal freight moved through supply chains, according to DAT. Cass Information reported that its July Freight Index for Shipments fell 2.2% from June and was 8.9% lower than July 2022. Expenditures were also down, by 2.8% from June levels and 24.4% from last July, an indication that rates continued falling in July. The Cass report notes that the current “downcycle,” or period of falling freight rates, is now 19 months old. For perspective, the last three downcycles have lasted 21 to 28 months. In other unfavorable news, the Cass report claimed that private fleets are gaining more of the available freight. In response to reduced freight levels, publicly traded for-hire truckload fleets reduced their tractor count by 3% in the first half of this year, according to Cass. Private fleets represent more than half of Class 8 tractor capacity. The Cass report also takes a look at new truck production, noting that new truck orders in the next few months will be “very interesting.” If freight levels don’t increase as new trucks continue to hit the market, lower rates will continue. The Cass Info data includes shipping information from multiple modes of freight transportation, including truck, rail, ship, air and pipeline. About three-quarters of the data is from trucking. The Motive Big Box Retail Index, which measures trucking visits to warehouses for the top 50 U.S. retailers, showed a decline of 15% for July. “This further supports the idea that the freight recession will remain through the rest of 2023,” the report stated. The current freight situation — some call it a freight recession — can be summed up by one paragraph heading in the July Uber Freight 2023 Q3 Freight Outlook. The heading reads: “The US consumer remains healthy, but the manufacturing sector continues to contract.” The report notes that retail spending rose by 0.2% in the second quarter and was 1.5% higher than it was a year ago. At the same time, manufacturers’ new orders and inventories remain in contraction territory as destocking continues. Tim Denoyer, vice president and senior analysts at ACT Research, explained it in a recent ACT blog post. “The spot market is continuing to rebalance with net revocations still at record rates. Even as the overall market is still on the loose side, the pendulum has started to swing,” he said. “The trajectory of spot rates has changed in the past couple of months, and we think demand fundamentals are likely to improve from here as we pass the worst of the destock. So, more freight market dynamics are in store down the road.” The overriding message for truckers is that things may not improve any time soon — but they shouldn’t get much worse, either. One publication referred to the current trucking conditions as, “bouncing along the bottom.” The Motive release has this advice: “Efficiency is king.” Noting that the pandemic, or rather the government’s response to the pandemic, created “highly favorable economics for trucking companies.” Government stimulus checks encouraged spending, creating higher than normal demand for products that needed to be hauled to market. Today, the economy is returning to something closer to normal. Inventories have been adjusted to pre-pandemic levels. Carriers that survive the current period of lowered freight rates and more competition for loads will do so because they are able to operate efficiently and conserve cash. Small carriers with no business plan and an “operate as usual” attitude will be swept away by the tide of tough trucking conditions. Truckbase simplifies the logistics management process, increases efficiency and provides peace of mind. Download the Free Guide

BEAVERTON, Ore. — According to the latest report by DAT Freight & Analytics, truckload freight volumes fell in July, drawing down national benchmark spot rates for reefers and dry vans from their June gains. The DAT Truckload Volume Index (TVI), a measure of loads moved during a given month, was lower in July for all three equipment types: Van TVI was 226, down 7% from June and 3% lower year-over-year. Reefer TVI slipped to 169, 3.4% lower than in June but 1.2% higher year-over-year. Flatbed TVI was 238, 12.8% lower compared to June but 3.5% higher year-over-year. “Shippers faced service disruptions at the ports and in the less-than-truckload sector but were able to secure van capacity without causing the needle to move on spot rates and volumes,” said Ken Adamo, DAT’s chief of analytics. Despite month-over-month declines, the reefer and flatbed TVI numbers were the highest on record for July as fresh and frozen food, metals, machinery, construction materials and other seasonal freight moved through supply chains. Demand for trucks slowed  National average load-to-truck ratios for van and reefer freight have been virtually unchanged for three straight months: The van ratio was 2.6, equal to June and down from 3.8 in July 2022. The reefer ratio was 3.8, unchanged from June and down from 7.2 a year earlier. The flatbed ratio was 7.1, down from 9.7 in June and significantly down from 21.8 in July 2022. Spot, contract rates dipped Reflecting flat demand, DAT’s benchmark spot rates slipped in July: The spot van rate was $2.07 per mile, down 1 cent compared to June and 56 cents lower than in July 2022. The spot reefer rate dipped 3 cents to $2.44 per mile and 60 cents lower year-over-year. The spot flatbed rate was $2.54 a mile, down 7 cents month-over-month and 72 cents lower year-over-year. Line-haul rates, which subtract an amount equal to a fuel surcharge, declined as well. DAT’s benchmark van line-haul rate was $1.63 per mile, down 2 cents compared to June. The reefer line-haul rate fell 5 cents to $1.96 per mile and the flatbed line-haul rate dropped 9 cents to $2.01 per mile. The average fuel surcharge increased by 2 cents to an average of 44 cents a mile for van freight, 48 cents for reefers and 53 cents for flatbeds in July. “Spot rates, as a reminder, are ‘all-in’ rates, meaning no separate fuel surcharge to help mitigate the risk of fuel price fluctuations. You have to negotiate each individual load with fuel and operating costs in mind, which is not always easy,” Adamo said. “The sudden increase in fuel prices is testing the wherewithal of small carriers at a time when freight volumes are in a seasonal lull.” DAT’s benchmark rates for contracted freight strengthened compared to pricing on the spot market. The van rate fell 1 cent to $2.57 a mile, the reefer rate gained 3 cents to $2.91 a mile and the flatbed rate rose 5 cents to $3.29 a mile. After closing for three straight months, the spread between contract and spot rates was unchanged for van freight and increased by 6 cents for reefers and 12 cents for flatbed loads. The size of the gap is an indicator of bargaining power among shippers, brokers and carriers, Adamo explained.