FedEx Corp’s less than truckload (LTL) units will implement a 5.59% general rate increase starting April 2. This increase for Fedex Freight and FedEx National LTL will not affect other companies within FedEx Corp; this includes FedEx Express and FedEx Ground. FedEx Freight is the regional and inter-regional provider of LTL services. They bought out Watkins Express a few months ago and renamed it FedEx National LTL.The rate increase will be applicable to interstate and intrastate traffic, and selected shipments between the United States and Mexico and Canada. They will make additional adjustments to include minimum and accessorial charges and also in select lanes and service areas.

This year, FedEx Corp.’s fiscal third quarter profits showed a 2% slide to $420 million compared to $428 million last year. Reasons stated are slowing economy, winter storms and lower fuel surcharges .The third quarter revenue has gone up by 7% to $8.59 billion.

The operating income for the LTL FedEx Freight unit went down 32% to   $50 million, while revenue rose 30% to $1.1 billion. LTL shipments were up 20% year-over-year as a result of acquiring Watkins Motor Lines last year. In the meantime, FedEx Ground operating income rose 5% to $196 million, while revenue was up 12% to $1.52 billion.The FedEx Express segment’s operating income dropped 12% to $391 million, while revenue rose 3% to $5.52 billion.

FedEx Kinko’s segment’s operating income was 43% lower; revenue was also down 3%.  Fourth quarter earnings for FedEx is likely to be $1.93 to $2.08 per share, while earnings for the full year would be $6.45 to $6.60 per share.

Mobile Awareness is a company, which specializes in transportation safety products. These can help in the prevention of expensive vehicle accidents, reduce driving risk, minimize legal liability, protect employees and also protect your investment.  

The latest products from this company are two new rugged small truck camera systems. These solutions come in collaboration with Visor-View Inc. from Missouri.  These two new backup camera systems are designed specially for pickup trucks, utility vehicles and SUVs. The Visor-View Pickup and Mirror-View Pickup camera systems output pictures of great clarity showing what is behind your vehicle – be it day or night. They are made cost effective for the user and you can use them in a variety of applications like trailer hitch alignment, forward viewing and in-vehicle monitoring. There is also a TFT LCD color monitor in the pickup system and this has a visor installed. A small sturdy CCD color camera is included. You get a 150-degree viewing angle Sony waterproof camera and all hardware, cables and remote control are part of the package. To make it safe and convenient, the color LCD display is in the driver’s side visor. The mirror view pick up system has a TFT LCD color rear view mirror monitor with industrial grade Sony CCD camera and accessories. This has a monitor that you can clip on to your existing rear view mirror. You can also add a second camera. Systems like these are a good investment since you can avoid obstacles and save lives.

The Private Motor Truck Council of Canada is inviting entries for its 22^nd Annual Vehicles Graphics Design Awards Competition. So carriers, get creative with the side of your van trailers.

The Annual Vehicles Graphics Design Awards Competition is co-sponsored every year by 3M Canada’s Commercial Graphics Division to recognize truck fleet operators – both private or for-hire – and design companies, of course – who transforms their trucks into artistic creations graphically. All Canadian fleet operators are welcome to participate – entry deadline is May 1, 2007. This is a great opportunity for the PMTC to promote the work of fleet operators and design houses.  The public has fun – seeing these mobile billboards. Fleet graphics are a smart way for companies to make use of the marketing opportunity presented to them.

There are three entry competitions. Vehicle Graphics Design Awards, Hall of Fame for Professional Drivers and Private Fleet Safety Award. Awards are presented in six categories: Tractor-Trailer Combination; Straight Truck; Special Events/Promotion; Night-Time Safety, Light Duty Commercial Truck and Identity Fleet Graphics.

PMTC is also inviting nominations for 2007 for the next name in the Hall of Fame for Professional Drivers. This recognizes superior over the road performance of PMTC drivers.

The PMTC and Zurich Private Fleet Safety Award recognizes the private truck fleets most committed to safety improvement, especially where they exceed National Safety Code requirements. This year’s competition is open to all Canadian private truck fleets. 

Check www.pmtc.ca for more details.

In the world of trucking, safety is supreme. Winning the Truckload Carriers Association’s much sought after 2006 National Fleet Safety Awards for the second year in sequence, Bison, Canada considered among the safest fleets in NA.  The Truckload Carriers Association in Alexandria, Va. Recognized Winnipeg-based Bison Transport companies for its dedication to safety and reducing accidents. Bison finished first in the 100 million miles category and was the grand winner for all carriers who operated over 25 million  miles every year. Don Hummer Trucking of Oxford, Iowa was awarded the grand prize for the less than 25 million miles annually. Bison was the winner for the same category in 2006.

There were two other Canadian Carriers who were also recognized and placed high. Transport Robert of Que. Was awarded the first position in Division V (50-99.99 million miles), and MacKinnon Transport of Guelph, Ontario was awarded second place in Division IV (25-49.99 million miles).

The National Fleet Safety Division Awards are based on the frequency of accidents for every million miles driven in each of the six mileage divisions. The top three winders are selected and audited by independent experts to authenticate their accident frequency numbers. The accident ratios per million miles for all division winners ranged from zero to .43, while the truckload segment of the industry averaged .54 accidents per million miles traveled.

Bison Transport was chosen for its overall safety programs, on the highway and off the highway and this included employee driver/independent contractor selection procedures, training, supervision, accident investigation, inspection and maintenance of equipment, and outside activities including general highway safety.

Although they have softened pricing in some sectors in central and Atlantic Canada, the Freight Carriers Association (FCA) is urging fleets to up their freight rates 4.9 per cent from April 2, 2007. For rates from and to Alberta, there should be an additional increase of 3 per cent.

The FCA’s Tariff Advisory Committee recommends that if the trucking industry is to attract capital and maintain capacity, there must be an increase in rates. The TAC meets regularly to keep tabs on the economic conditions and profitability of general freight carriers. Some of the factors that are influencing the increase in costs for the trucking industry are driver shortage, rise in labor costs and regulatory changes.

The FCA, based on info developed by Statistics Canada, expects that labor costs for trucking companies have gone up by 4.2 % annually. The new regulations that are effective Jan 1, 2007, are those analogous to the US situation, where the impact is expected to be 1 – 5 %, based on the carrier’s operations.

Costs in Alberta have shot up because of demand for labor in the oil sands and connected sectors and there’s no way the industry can absorb these. The increase of an additional 3% for Alberta will therefore offset these costs.

The impact of 2007 model engines will add another $10000 to the cost of a new truck, which is not included in the rates. Other costs that are excluded from the rates are those related to appointment deliveries, waiting time, protective service, border crossing, return of pallets and handling of dangerous goods etc. 

In a move to encourage competition by opening the US border to Mexican trucks, the latest is that there wont even be a thousand Mexican trucks crossing the border in this pilot program, according to the DOT. Also these companies will only be transporting international freight. They will not be authorized to transport domestic deliveries between the US cities.  The big US trucking companies are okay with this plan. Truckers like Con-way Inc. and other biggies are supportive of opening the border to let Mexican trucks in to speed up trade and save costs. The American Trucking Associations also support this pilot plan of letting in the Mexican trucks. Oddly, when the ATA met at their HQ last week they were said to have been all for letting the Mexican trucks compete with the US trucking companies on an equal footing.

In any case the ATA insists that Mexican companies will also be bound by the same stringent US regulations that the US trucking companies are expected to stick to – in terms of highway safety, occupational safety, the environment, insurance, taxes, fees and finance.

The Teamsters President voiced that the union is against opening the border since it would mean letting in unsafe Mexican trucks to be on the US highways, compromising highway safety and national security. There is no way arrangements can be made to keep an eye on those Mexican trucks.

Lets keep a track of this to see how it turns out.!

Schneider National Inc is elated about getting approved to operate a trucking and logistics business in China. Based in Green Bay, Schneider is among the largest trucking firms in the United States, and has the distinction of being among the first to establish a business serving the internal Chinese market. The company in China will be called Schneider Logistics (Tianjin) Co. Ltd. Tianjin, a port city in the northeast, is China’s third-largest urban area.

Actual movement of trucks on the Chinese highways will commence sometime in the middle of 2007. Schneider intends to start conservatively small with around 50 trucks. They are also trying to acquire two Chinese trucking companies, which might happen around mid 2007. Schneider, in addition to trucking, will also offer warehousing, freight management and other transportation services in the Chinese market.

Schneider National, Inc. operates as a truckload and intermodal services company in the US, Canada and Mexico with five divisions that provide transportation and transportation-related services. Schneider National Carriers, Inc. provides truckload service throughout North America. It provides one-way van, dedicated, intermodal, brokerage and expedited services. Schneider Specialized Carriers, Inc. is a carrier for the industrial glass industry. In addition to glass, it provides transportation solutions to fit customers’ equipment shipping needs using qualified partner carriers.

Expansion activities into China have been on since 2005, when they opened an office in Shanghai. Not surprising, with the rapidly advancing Chinese economy and its various tie ups with the US. China is rich with opportunities for truckload carriers.

It’s begun. Canada-based Imperial Oil’s fuel supply problems are affecting trucking companies in the area. This fuel shortage has already seen price hikes of up to 20% and truckers are reporting that fuel outlets prefer cash, not plastic when they do decide to supply the fuel.

Imperial Oil is informing trucking companies in the area that they’ve had to reserve diesel and home heating oil (gasoline) to Ontario customers because of operational and transport constraints. Just imagine this prominent fuel supplier not being available – a lot of wheels are going to suffer. Smaller fuel companies might continue to supply for a while thanks to their storage tanks…but when these are dry, what then?

Imperial Oil is silent about when it will resume normal production – only saying that they hope to resolve matters ‘at the earliest’. Their Nanticoke refinery was shut down due to a fire and they hope to return to normal by the end of the month. At the moment, the trucking companies are desperately trying to find fuel and really have no option but to pass on the price hike to their customers – so shippers, beware. Your carrier’s fuel surcharges are on the rise.

How will the Minister of Energy ensure that the province has enough fuel supply to keep things going and to prevent tremendous price hikes?  That remains to be seen. Because, if the truckers don’t get fuel – and don’t pass the price hike to their customers, they will have to close shop. And if they close shop, Ontario’s economy will definitely suffer. Not a good situation to look forward to.

National Shipping and Freight Summit in New Zealand

In the mean time, elsewhere in the world, preparations are on for a shipping summit – New Zealand’s getting ready to hold the National Shipping and Freight Summit in April 2007 which is being sponsored by Saha International. Eminent speakers will be present to present their views and insights on different crucial aspects of the freight industry.

How will this summit help? It will cover relevant issues that the freight shipping and transport industry is faced with right now – and issues likely to crop up in the future.  NZ’ s freight infrastructure and the people who use it will be affected by what has been happening in the freight world.

Topics related to the international perspective on container terminals and shipping, attracting investments to transport infrastructure, issues facing ports in NZ, trucking in NZ, customs broking and freight forwarding and how to move forward in shipping and freight, etc. are likely to be discussed.

The summit will consider ways to increase investment in the transport infrastructure; discuss current global trends in the logistics and supply chain management; challenges ahead; SWOT analysis vis-à-vis relevant international mergers in the shipping industry; ways to enhance surface transport options; role of air cargo; needs of service providers and how to meet them.

The National Shipping and Freight Summit in New Zealand is poised to become the logistics event of 2007 with its aim of bringing together the New Zealand transport, shipping and logistics industries. Stay tuned for an update.

Freight giant FedEx Corp formed a new division called FedEx Freight Canada this week - and will offer LTL - less than truckload shipping service in Canada. That’s good news indeed, since the world’s largest cargo airline owner has also kicked off ‘FedEx National LTL’, a long haul service for LTL shipment customers.

FedEx Corp., which owns the FedEx Express cargo line, earns $ 34 billion a year with FedEx Freight bringing in $3.6 billion (according to their reports for 2006).

This new offering came about after FedEx took over Watkins Motor Lines and Watkins Canada Express last year. It helps FedEx offer LTL customers a more complete solution for their freight needs, and also enhances the FedEx portfolio. They’ve been working at this over the last five months and feel that they have really moved forward in bringing a dependable and reasonably priced solution for long haul shippers.

FedEx has hired nearly 9000 employees and re-branded their equipment. They have integrated their web sites so that customers can effortlessly and quickly switch between their regional and long haul services.

With these developments, FedEx Freight Canada will now handle LTL shipments moving in and out of Canada, as well as within Canada.

In the end of January 2007, FedEx Corp. bought out Prakash Air Freight Pvt Ltd, an Indian airfreight company that was among the largest domestic express companies in India. PAFEX has been the FedEx service provider in India since 2002.

FedEx is all set to deliver after causing some concern over its share prices to investors last month.