With the USPS raising postage again, Cary Watkins from MNTDL took a look back over the past 50 years. Cary has posted some interesting numbers to think about. In 1963, the average income was $5,807.00 per year, the population was 189,241,798, Kennedy was the President. The average home price was $19,300.00, postage $.05 per stamp, gas only $.30 per gallon, and milk $.49 per gallon. The Federal Debt $310 BILLION. The most current data for 2013 is an average income of $51,404, population 316,160,000, Obama is the President, average home price $199,200, gas $3.56 per gallon, milk $3.48 per gallon and postage is $.46. Federal debt over $17 TRILLION… Over the past 50 years the average income has climbed $45,597, average price of a home has increased $179,900, the price of a gallon of gas is up $3.26, milk $2.54, and the price of a stamp up $.41 since 1963. Makes one wonder what things will cost in another 50 years…  

Combined Companies Create a Top 5 North American Open-Deck/Specialty

Daseke Inc., of Addison, Texas, and Clayton, Ala.-based Boyd Bros. Transportation have announced a merger, creating one of the largest open-deck/specialty fleets in North America. The merger also includes Boyd Bros. companies — WTI Transport, based in Tuscaloosa, Ala.; Mid Seven Transportation, based in Des Moines, Iowa; Boyd Intermodal; and Boyd Logistics.

The two combined companies now offer full North American open-deck/specialty coverage, including service into Canada and Mexico. “Combined with our other companies, which include Smokey Point Distributing, E.W. Wylie, J. Grady Randolph Inc., and Central Oregon Truck Company, more than 2,000 tractors and 3,600 trailers are available to our customers,” said Don Daseke, President and CEO of Daseke Inc. “The combination puts us well into the top five in open-deck/specialty carriers, in terms of vehicle count and revenues.

READ MORE

Contributed by Business Wire a Berkshire Hathaway Company

The United States Postal Service today announced proposed price changes, including an increase in the price of a First-Class Mail single-piece letter from 46 cents to 49 cents. The proposed changes, which would go into effect in January 2014, are intended to generate $2 billion in incremental annual revenue for the Postal Service.

Highlights of the new single-piece First-Class Mail pricing, effective Jan. 26, 2014 include:

• Letters (1 oz.) — 3-cent increase to 49 cents
• Letters additional ounces —  1-cent increase to 21 cents
• Letters to all international destinations (1 oz.) — $1.15
• Postcards — 1-cent increase to 34 cents

Stamp prices have stayed consistent with the average annual rate of inflation of 4.2 percent since the Postal Service was formed in 1971.
Pricing for Standard Mail, Periodicals, Package Services and Extra Services also will be adjusted as part of a filing to the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) scheduled to take place Sept. 26.

READ MORE

Contributed by the United States Postal Service

Two Florida state lawmakers are preparing a push for faster speeds on roadways around the state. OOIDA leadership says it’s imperative for road safety that any changes made to driving speeds promote uniformity.

Sen. Jeff Brandes, R-St. Petersburg, and Sen. Jeff Clemens, D-Lake Worth, filed a bill on Tuesday, Nov. 12, that could increase the posted speed limit on highways for all vehicles to as much as 75 mph.

Florida law authorizes cars and trucks to travel 70 mph on interstates. Drivers can travel 65 mph on highways with a divided median and 60 mph on other roadways.

The bill offered for consideration in the 2014 regular session would increase allowable speeds on the types of highway by 5 mph to 75, 70 and 65 mph, respectively.

READ MORE

Contributed by Keith Goble | Land Line state legislative editor

USA Truck Inc. of Van Buren has a shareholder rights plan but that might not be enough to hold off a determined rival intent on buying the company. Then again, USA Truck may be safe with or without a “poison pill,” as such rights plans are often called, if its stock price shows staying power. Knight Transportation Inc. of Phoenix announced in September that it had offered USA Truck a $242 million package for the company in August. The offer was $9 per share ($95 million cash) and the assumption of $147 million in debt, but USA Truck’s board rejected the offer, which board members said undervalued the company. READ MORE Contributed by Marty Cook | Arkansas Business News  

Rod Retana, a Florida delivery truck driver heroically saved a woman from Miramar canal on while on his morning shift. Retana said that he just did what anyone else would have done after the 22-year-old crashed her car and ended up in the canal. According to Retana, “I made a right on [Palm Avenue] and noticed a car up against the guardrail, so I decided to stop and call it in to the police.” READ MORE Contributed by CDL LIFE

FMCSA Administrator Anne Ferro rode shotgun with an OOIDA member, Leo Wilkins, of St. Charles, Michigan, for a 2-day, multi-state trip this week. The trip was a chance for Ferro to get a glimpse into the daily life of a driver and to shine a light on how regulations have affected drivers. The trip began on Sunday morning in Maryland and ended on Monday afternoon in Missouri. Ferro experienced a load delivery, two pick ups and what it’s like to spend time in a truck’s sleeper berth. READ MORE Contributed by CDL LIFE

Sales of natural-gas powered big rigs could jump as much as fivefold this year as falling prices for both natural gas and the carbon fuel tanks required for such trucks come down, the Wall Street Journal says.

Lowe’s, Procter & Gamble, UPS and PepsiCo are among the major US companies that have gone on record saying they’re expanding their fleet of trucks that can run on either compressed natural gas (CNG) or liquefied natural gas (LNG). For instance, UPS is buying 1,000 natural-gas trucks by year-end, and P&G, whose fleet is about seven percent natural gas, is looking to boost that figure to 20 percent by 2015. FedEx wants 30 percent of its long-distance trucks to be powered by natural gas by 2023, while engine makers like Cummins Westport and Volvo are adding products to the market. As a result, as much as five percent of new heavy-duty trucks may be natural-gas powered in 2013, up from about one percent last year.

READ MORE

Contributed by Danny King | Auto Blog Green

Heartland Express Inc. said it has acquired all of the stock of Gordon Trucking Inc., which Heartland said creates the fifth-largest asset-based truckload fleet in North America.

The transaction is worth $300 million, Heartland said in a Nov. 11 statement.

READ MORE

Contributed by Transport Topics

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration in light of an in-house study says it wants to implement some regulation changes to help former military personnel U.S. veterans more easily transition to civilian truck driving jobs. The agency says it plans to implement the changes “as soon as possible.”

The changes include:

*Allowing active duty and recently separated veterans to have up to one year — as opposed to the current 90 days — to take advantage of the Military Skills Test Waiver, which allows states to waive CDL skills tests for service members with two years of safe driving experience with similar vehicles. Right now, 46 states offer the waiver, and almost 2,000 veterans have been able to use the waiver.

READ MORE

Contributed by CCJ Staff