Overdrive Magazine | Trucking Business News & Owner Operator Info
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/232692
Business Trucking jobs increase Bond increase grounds brokers The for-hire trucking industry grew by 8,400 payroll jobs in November – the first real jump since spring, coming on the heels of about six months of stagnant growth. That brought for-hire trucking jobs to almost 1.4 million – 18,600 more than the same month in 2012 and 161,300 jobs higher than March 2010, when the industry's employment bottomed out. However, November's employment total remained 58,100 jobs shy of January 2007's high mark. Roughly 8,200 brokers lost their operating authority between Dec. 1 and Dec. 10 after the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration began enforcing OOIDA's Todd Spencer said the MAP-21-stipulated increase in the the bond increase will help truckers who "have been surety bond amount brokers must carry. cheated by bad brokers." Noncompliance with the new $75,000 bond minimum – up from $10,000 – is to blame and is forcing small brokers out of business, says James Lamb, president of the Association of Independent Property Brokers and Agents. However, Chris Burroughs of the Transportation Intermediaries Association, which represents larger brokers, says those numbers merely may indicate an outdated database – "people out there who had active authority but weren't actively doing business." TIA, the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association and the American Trucking Associations supported the increase. OOIDA spokesperson Norita Taylor said "the previous system left too much room for fraud where funds were collected from shippers but not paid to owner-operators." FMCSA published a notice in September 2012 saying it would revoke operating authority from brokers who did not comply with the bond increase by Dec. 1. Lamb's organization still is fighting the increase in court, filing an appeal Dec. 3 of a Nov. 26 court decision that denied AIPBA's request for a stay of the increase. Forecast: Modest growth in truckload rates Truckload rates will rise 6 percent by the second quarter, said Eric Starks, president of research firm FTR. Starks spoke to fleet executives at Overdrive sister site CCJ's Fall Symposium last month in Scottsdale, Ariz. "This is a good number, but not as dramatic as the initial data suggests" because truckload rates dropped last summer, he said. Starks said he predicts 2 percent Gross Domestic Product for 2014. — Staff reports Gauges Cheaper diesel fuels bottom line 70¢ 65¢ 60¢ 55¢ 50¢ 45¢ 4Q'12 1Q'13 Net income per mile rose 3 to 4 cents during mid-2013 for owner-operator clients of financial services provider ATBS. One reason was that as the second quarter began in April, national average diesel prices dropped below $4 a gallon and have stayed there. The result was a Fuel cost/mile savings of 3 to 5 cents per mile during Net income/mile the second and third 2Q'13 3Q'13 quarters. $2.55 Flatbed $2.45 Reefer $2.35 Dry Van $2.25 $2.15 $2.05 $1.95 $1.85 $1.75 $1.65 $1.55 $1.45 Jan - 2011 July - 2012 Nov - 2013 Reefer, van rates rise Reefer and dry van rates spiked in November, but the flatbed rate on the spot market hit its lowest monthly average since March – $2.04 per mile – according to Internet Truckstop. Dry van rates rose 10 cents to $1.98, and reefer rates climbed 6 cents to $2.23, both increases largely reflecting seasonal trends. All three segments reported all-time highs in June before declining in the next three months. 20 | Overdrive | January 2014 Biz_0114.indd 20 12/20/13 11:43 AM