Overdrive

July 2017 | Overdrive | 29 FREE YOURSELF with a FREE MONTH OF PREPASS. Get a free month * of PrePass, the proven solution for bypassing and tolls, and free yourself to keep on rolling while saving time, fuel and money. Try it today! prepass.com/overdrive 877-839-6830 Use promo code OVERDRIVE for your first month FREE *Offer good for first time PrePass customers only and does not include the tolling payment service. Service contingent upon application approval. Carriers and operators must meet the minimum Inspection Selection System safety score to qualify for PrePass. Qualified applicants will receive service transponder and one month of service at no up-front cost. Service may be cancelled at any time. At the end of the trial period, service will automatically renew at regular PrePass rates. Upon conclusion of service, transponder must be returned within 30 days to PrePass or a $100 hardware fee will be assessed. The truck freight economy has operated in fits and starts in recent months fol- lowing an 18-month falloff from mid-2015 through all last year. However, an upward trend has started to develop, at least on the owner-operator-heavy spot market. Indicators point to strong growth in freight availability and rates. Analysts forecast market conditions for carriers to continue to gain steam into next year, pushing up rates. Available loads on the spot market in May hit their highest point since September 2015, according to the DAT Freight Index for May. Load availability was up 63 percent from a year earlier. Truck ton- nage also shot up in May, according to the American Trucking Associations, climbing 6.5 percent from April and 4.8 percent from May 2016. At press time, numbers for June were not yet available. "The trucking market still seems to be in a relative balance with enough avail- able capacity to move goods at reasonable pricing," says Jonathan Starks, chief oper- ating officer and analyst for truck researcher FTR. "However, that balance is slowly shifting toward the carriers. Spot market load activity is well above levels we saw last year, and spot pricing has recently hit dou- ble-digit increases." Spot market rates for all three major truckload seg- ments saw sizable gains in May from April, according to Truckstop.com. Van and flatbed also posted strong year-over-year gains. "We are leaving the freight recession behind," says Mark Montague, DAT industry pricing analyst. – James Jaillet Hot spot market should extend into 2018 SIGNS OF LIFE RATES Van 7 cents* Reefer 1 cent* Flatbed 17 cents* *Per mile, May 2016 to May 2017 Source: Truckstop.com FREIGHT Tonnage 4.8%* Spot market loads 63%** Reefer 87% Van 86% Flatbed 56% *May 2016 to May 2017. Source: American Trucking Associations **May 2016 to May 2017. Source: DAT Solutions

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• COVER STORY: Jump start The electrified truck concept has taken on a real life, with players large and small vying for future shares of the Class 8 market. It’s not only large fleets that are placing orders.
• Presenting logs at roadside Running with an e-logs device is one thing. Communicating e-log data to an inspector is quite another. With five months to go, states’ data transfer plans vary widely, and an ambitious federal program remains untested.
• Broker ratings Not only have the internet and mobile technology made finding loads quicker and easier than ever, those same resources also can provide more in-depth, current information on broker performance.
• Drive Test: Best of both worlds Volvo’s regional workhorse tractor, the VNM, having been on the market for more than two decades, was overdue for a refresh. But Volvo designers did much more than modernize its body lines in producing th
• Options few after ELD challenge stalls.
• Pulse: “The real problem” with ELDs.
• Another reason shippers should deal direct.
• Reader majority opposes hair-sample testing.
• Obama-era contractor status memo rescinded.
• Trucker Talent Search finalists headed for Dallas.
• FMCSA study to assess split sleeper options.
• GATS to showcase free music and famous trucks.
• “Service and sacrifice” ’88 Freightliner COE.
• Owner-operator’s self-built “RisslerBilt” 379.
• “88 Mike” Morgan earns first Bandit Series win.
• Reader Rigs: ’13 T800 a stainless dream; ’90 K100 a farming COE; salute “The General” ’17 W900L Icon; ’96 W900L pretty in pink; respect “Big Tex” ’15 122SD; ’02 W900L goes by “Black Betty.”
• BUSINESS Log data might not cover IFTA, IRP.
• Gear Guide All-position tire, mudflap, locks, more.
• FLEET NEWS Decker’s Driver of the Year gets Harley.
• 5 APPS FOR THAT Podcast players for on-the-road listening.
• TWO-BUCK TRUCKERS Wendy Parker backs a driver’s plan to highlight trucking issues and show the general public how much the industry contributes to the economy.