Fleet Management

FTR's Noel Perry discussed the role of regulatory shocks in capacity and freight rates, plus the economic backdrop to what's going on in the industry, in FTR's recent State of Freight conference call.

Tags: Economy, FTR Associates, Freight Rates

A new report shows the American economy expanded in the third quarter of the year at a surprisingly higher rate than expected.

Tags: Economy, GDP

Conditions for the American economy are improving and may continue doing so, according to a new report out from one private research group.

Tags: Economy, Leading Economic Indicators

Economic activity in the non-manufacturing sector grew in October for the 46th consecutive month, according to the nation's purchasing and supply executives in the latest Non-Manufacturing Institute for Supply Management Report On Business.

Tags: Economy, Manufacturing, Non-Manufacturing

At least there is one thing that’s not a worry when it comes to the American economy…inflation. The U.S. Labor Department’s Consumer Price Index increased only 0.2% in September from the month before.

Tags: Economy, Consumer Prices

Retail sales moved 0.1% lower in September from August but were 3.2% higher from the same time in 2012, according to the U.S. Commerce Department.

Tags: Economy, Retail Sales, Consumer Confidence, Wholesale Prices

Industrial production in the United States increased in September, posting its biggest gain in seven months. This follows a report Friday showing shipments of manufactured durable goods hit their highest level on record going back to 1992 -- but consumer confidence took a nosedive.

Tags: Economy, Freight, Industrial Production, Durable Goods, Consumer Sentiment

The nation’s unemployment rate continues moving lower inch-by-inch, hitting a five-year low, according to the U.S. Labor Department. It fell to 7.2% in September compared to 7.3% in August.

Tags: drivers, Economy, Fleets, Unemployment

ORLANDO -- The changes to the federal commercial driver hours of service rules that went into effect July 1 caused the issue to top the American Transportation Research Institute's annual survey of more than 4,000 trucking industry executives, truck drivers, trucking industry suppliers and government.

Tags: Economy, ATA, CSA, Hours of Service, Driver Shortage, EOBR, ATRI, ATA2013

The economy and freight continues to chug along in an "OK" mode, while stagnant capacity and new and pending regulations put the industry "on the cusp of a capacity crunch" if the economy speeds up, according to a panel of economic and industry experts at the American Trucking Associations' annual convention Sunday.

Tags: Economy, ATA, ACT Research, Truck Tonnage, ATA2013

Freight costs continued to rise in September, showing the largest month-to-month increase since March, but it's not due to a raise in rates. Meanwhile, North American shipment volumes also rose for the second month in a row, according to the Cass Freight Index.

Tags: Economy, Freight, Cass Freight Index

Following a string of at least slightly encouraging economic reports, two new economic reports are disappointing. U.S. consumer confidence fell this month to a five-month low, while personal spending in August increased for the fourth consecutive month.

Tags: Economy, Consumer Confidence, Consumer Spending

Growth for the nation’s economy picked up dramatically in the second quarter of the year with the gross domestic product increasing at an annual rate of 2.5%.

Tags: Economy, Freight, GDP, Durable Goods, Manufacturing, Home Sales

“I think it’s pretty astounding this economy continues to grow when you think about the shocks it’s taken," said Bob Costello, chief economist & vice president, American Trucking Associations, speaking at TMW Systems’ Transforum user conference in Anaheim, Calif., Tuesday.

Tags: Economy, ATA, TMW

ANAHEIM -- The trucking industry is looking at a severe capacity crunch in coming years with a variety of factors contributing to the situation, according to Bob Costello, chief economist of the American Trucking Associations.

Tags: drivers, Economy, ATA, Freight, TMW

There could be a lot more freight for trucking to move in the future from the nation’s manufacturing sector.

Tags: Economy, Freight, Manufacturing

Americans aren’t feeling quite as good about the state of the economy this month as they were in August, but they are still optimistic.

Tags: Economy, Consumer Confidence

UPDATED--Retail sales increased less than expected during August compared to the month before, but are up significantly compared to a year ago, driven primarily by auto sales.

Tags: Economy, Retail Sales, Consumer Confidence