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ata truck tonnage index rose 1.7 percent in february


arlington, va., march 25, 2009 /prnewswire-usnewswire via comtex/ ----the american trucking associations' advanced seasonally adjusted for-hire truck tonnage index edged 1.7 percent higher in february 2009, marking the second consecutive month-to-month increase. Still, the gain over the past two months, totaling 4.8 percent, did not even erase the 7.8 percent contraction in december 2008. In february, the seasonally adjusted tonnage index equaled just 106.5 (2000 = 100), which is still extremely low. Also in february, the fleets reported lower volumes than in january, as the not seasonally adjusted index fell another 2 percent last month on top of january's 4.4 percent drop. In february, the not seasonally adjusted index equaled 95.3.
Compared with february 2008, tonnage contracted 9.2 percent, which was the third-worst year-over-year decrease of the current cycle.
Ata chief economist bob costello was very cautious about reading too much into february's seasonally adjusted month-to-month improvement. "as i said last month, tonnage will not fall every month on a seasonally adjusted basis, and just because it rose again in february doesn't mean the economy is on the mend," costello said. "tonnage plunged again on a year-over-year basis, which highlights the current weakness in the freight environment." costello also noted that fleets are still witnessing a tough environment and there is nothing that suggests freight volumes are about to embark on a sustained recovery....

ATA Truck Tonnage Index Rose 1.7 Percent in February - FOXBusiness.com

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By Laura Youngs

http://msnbcmedia4.msn.com/j/msnbc/C...o.standard.gif updated 8:00 p.m. ET, Sun., March. 29, 2009

Heavier competition and dwindling demand for consumer products are forcing trucking companies in the Triad to lower prices, cutting into already suffering revenues and leading some firms to lay off workers.
Freight haulers in the area already were hurting after a painfully slow holiday season that is normally a major time for business. But in recent months, company officials say they’ve gone from holding steady on their mileage rates — how much they charge per mile traveled — to bidding at levels not seen, in some cases, since the early 2000s.
“We’re seeing pressures on the pricing front from a lot of different industries,” said Britt Colley, president of Greensboro-based Epes Transport Systems Inc. “You’re given the opportunity to match them or walk away from the business. We’ve done a little bit of both. You get to a point in some situations, you’re better off parking the truck.”


Consumer demand for goods — anything from furniture to apparel — has been dropping for months, leaving less business for trucking firms. According to the American Trucking Association, its truck tonnage index, which tracks the amount of freight hauled, dropped 10.8 percent in January 2009 compared to January 2008.
In recent months, bidding has gotten far more competitive, dropping well under $1 per mile in some bids and resulting in lost business, said Dale Norman, director of sales for Siloam-based truckload and general commodities carrier Hardy Brothers Inc.
Recently, he said, he placed bids for a long-time customer. “The rates I put in for 2009 were equal to what we put in for 2004, and we did not get the business,” Norman said. “Somebody is really aggressively pricing out there.”
It isn’t just lower consumer demand creating the problems. Harry Sink, a professor of transportation economics at N.C. A&T State University, said dropping fuel prices made it easier for companies that were barely scraping by to stay afloat in recent months. While that kept more companies around, at least for now, the economy has hit harder than many expected, he said, leaving even less business but more competition for what’s left.
Some companies are taking routes that break even or lose money just to keep trucks moving.
“There’s a cash crunch going on,” Sink said. “(Low bidding) is what happens when carriers start getting desperate. They start trying to raise cash any way they can.”
Sink said it’s worse on the truckload side of the business, which involves hauling a single trailer of goods to one destination, because it is less specialized and there is more competition than for less-than-truckload carriers, which pick up goods from multiple vendors for delivery.
It isn’t just the Triad. A January report from research firm Avondale Partners LLC in Nashville, Tenn., said that pricing pressures will only get worse in the first part of 2009 unless consumer demand improves or more trucking companies go out of business, leaving less competition for survivors.
Joe Wade, president of Thomasville-based less-than-truckload carrier Shelba D. Johnson Trucking, said he tries to keep his rates between $2 and $2.25 per mile to avoid incurring losses on a trip.
Still, he said, the difficulty of finding freight to haul means he’s only using about 80 percent of his truck capacity. The company has laid off about 60 employees, about 20 percent of its work force, since the summer, including owner-operator truck drivers.
Wade isn’t alone. Ron Boroughs, senior vice president of business development and administration at Furniture Transport Group in High Point, said with his company’s business volume down 15 percent to 20 percent, he has laid off 10 to 12 drivers and about the same number in administrative staff in recent months, out of a work force of about 500.
“I don’t look for (pricing pressure) to stop real soon,” he said. “I still think we’ll be fighting this for a while.”

Trucking rates fall amid low demand, heavy competition - Top Stories- msnbc.com

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by karen underwood, high point enterprise

thepiedmontchannel.com
updated 8:34 a.m. Et, tues., march. 17, 2009

high point, n.c. - though the demand for transportation remains at a low, job inquiries at local trucking companies are soaring as people look for any work they can find, leaving companies with a plethora of applicants from which to choose.
Tom davis, fleet manager at firstfleet inc. In jamestown, said job inquiries have increased 40 to 50 percent since november. Davis said they even received applications from drivers who were let go from nascar teams.
"they're feeling the crunch like everyone else. I can't remember the last time i had to run an ad," he said.
Firstfleet has 1,800 trucks that carry consumer products - everything from groceries to clothes - but there are less jobs, he said, which keeps him from hiring new people despite the interest. But davis hasn't let anyone go, and no one is leaving, he said.
Job inquiries started increasing in december at old dominion freight line inc. In high point, said brian stoddard, vice president of safety and personnel.
"there's been extremely busy volume compared to the norm," he said about the 15 to 20 job inquiries he receives each week compared to the usual two to five calls. Times are a lot different than just a year ago, when the industry was still in a driver shortage that began in 2005, stoddard said.
now that the recession has taken hold, "companies are closing and going out of business, and it's put a lot of drivers unemployed. That has increased the available driver pool," he said.
and like other companies, old dominion isn't having to spend money on advertising or recruiting. "they're contacting us," stoddard said about the job hunters. Many are just showing up at the truck terminals, hoping there are jobs available, he said.
Carolina southern inc., a small company in high point with only 45 trucks has received about five calls a day for the past three months, compared to the usual zero or one, said joe moné, safety director.
"transportation is a good indicator as to which way the economy is going," he said. "people aren't buying, which means there's no need to manufacture, which means there's no need to transport. It's a big circle."
moné said that last year at this time he had hired 15 people, and this year he has only hired two.
"transportation companies are vulnerable to the economy, like everything else."

Trucking Companies See An Influx Of Job Hunters - News- msnbc.com

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