Tag Archive for: trucking company

American Transportation Research Institute Releases New Report

/in /by

During the recession of 2008-2011, costs rose for the trucking industry. Transportation costs and fuel costs were higher, leading to a gradual increase in the costs of operating an intermodal trucking company like Calhoun Truck Lines.

Fortunately, a new report shows that the costs has eased somewhat in 2012. Overall average costs to operate a truck fell 4 percent in 2012, down from a 10 percent increase from 2010 to 2011. The report, titled “An Analysis of the Operation Costs of Trucking 2013 Update” showed that while the average costs of operation for a truck fell slightly, increasing fuel prices and more pressure to raise truckers’ pay is contributing to a higher level of costs for the trucking industry.

Costs per mile fell to $1.62/mile from 2011’s $1.71/mile. The study showed that costs for those LTL (less than truckload) carriers dropped to nearly $180/mile, from 2011’s $1.93/mile.

While the lower average costs would initially indicate a forward progress for trucking, these are being offset with high costs of operation for other areas. Higher fuel costs, increased tire costs, and costs of traveling through tolls are still higher.

ATRIFor most carriers, the majority of costs still come from fuel costs and driver wages. All of this comes at a time when many trucking companies are looking at the cost-savings benefits to switch to natural gas, writes the Dallas Business News. The industry is always seeking qualified drivers, and Calhoun Truck Lines is no exception. High fuel prices, more freight needs, tighter regulations on the trucking industry, and an older workforce adds up to higher costs across the board for truckers.

The American Transportation Research Institute manages this study on an annual  basis, contributing essential economic research to encourage trucking firms to manage their trucking fleets and fuel costs accordingly.

 

New ATA Newsletter ‘ATA Business of Trucking’ Launched

/in /by

Calhoun Truck Lines is in the mix of intermodal transportation and cargo delivery, day in and day out. it’s our business and we’re proud of what we do.  

At this blog, we often share our thoughts on trucking, diesel costs, truck driver hires, and more. So we’re glad to read that our industry association, the American Trucking Associations (ATA) is also reaching out to more people with news about these very same topics that we are covering on our own blog.  
ATA, Calhoun Trucking


In April, the ATA announced its launch of a new quarterly newsletter named “ATA Business of Trucking”. This complimentary eNewsletter will be distributed quarterly to ATA members, ATA Council Members, and purchasers of ATA products.   In the four quarterly issues, the team behind it promises to “feature critical information from industry leaders on the most pressing issues in trucking” as it read in the ATA press release.  

“ATA Business of Trucking will provide readers with insight from key industry experts and thought leaders on topics that can have a real impact on their bottom line,” wrote ATA President and CEO Bill Graves. “We’re launching this valuable product with a look at natural gas in trucking, a follow up to our successful ATA Summit on Natural Gas in Trucking, but we anticipate covering the length and breadth of trucking issues in the coming months.”  

Issues covered in the debut newsletter issue focused on the industry moving from diesel to natural gas for truckers, with a variety of insights from industry execs on the matter. Here’s the post from Doug Thomson titled “Dual Fuel Conversion Systems Mean the Future is Today” in which he offers his thoughts on how the trucking industry.   

Future topics to be explored will incude which fuel to use, the impact of increased weight, use of dual fuel systems and the return on investment from investing in natural gas trucks.  

At Calhoun Truck Lines, we are excited to hear more about issues in our trucking industry. It’s important, we feel, that more poeple understand how th eintermodal cargo system can provide businesses with the necessary goods.  

Calhoun Truck Lines’ operational facilities at our five Midwest trucking facilities are fully equipped to handle your intermodal trucking needs. We are proud of our drivers and their ability to move freight safely and swiftly across the country. Calhoun Truck Lines delivers a professional working environment for our employees, and maintains a safe truck fleet. Contact us for more info on our business at https://calhountrucklines.com.

Growing Intermodal Trucking Business Changes Name, Keeps Focus

/in /by

The world of intermodal trucking services is a business area played, more or less, out of the public eye. While definitely part of national and international commerce, intermodal trucking is not part of our national consciousness. We all see trucks moving goods on our nation’s highways, but the trucking businesses behind those good moving stays mostly anonymous to consumers.

But in the case of at least one Midwest provider of intermodal trucking services, its name and identity became a stumbling block in its quest to grow its business. Its longtime name of Universal Transportation Services was starting to become a confintermodal trucking company Calhoun Truck Linesusing element among vendors and customers in its marketplace because of a larger competitor’s similar parent company name.

Because of that, the firm recently changed its name to Calhoun Truck Lines and announced it on its website and sent notifications to customers, partners and industry analysts. The intermodal trucking services company knew that something had to be done in late 2011, when vendors and customers of the Midwest firm were starting to mix the smaller Midwestern firm with the larger parent company name, recalls its president.

“Because a large competitor of ours in the business was marketing themselves with a name similar to ours, I wanted to make sure that we kind of separate ourselves from them, make sure that we have our own identity,” explained Calhoun Truck Lines president Brent Bois about the name change. “We’ve changed our name to Calhoun Truck Lines as it reflects a certain regional heritage about where our company is headquartered, and it establishes our own identity away from the more generic sounding ‘Universal’ in our former name.”

By updating its name and web site, Calhoun Truck Lines is able to move forward without any customer confusion, and continue to provide solid and dependable service under a new name. To get there, it worked with its senior staff and some outside marketing consultants to find its new name and identity.  “It was definitely a worthwhile process to go through with the name change to get where we are today,” said company president Bois.

Calhoun Truck Lines was named in part after Lake Calhoun, the well-known lake in the Minneapolis, MN region. The company supplies intermodal trucking services throughout the Midwest from its four trucking operations in Detroit, Chicago, Minneapolis, and Omaha. Each operation is fully equipped to handle large intermodal trucking needs.

“Calhoun Truck Lines will continue to deliver great service that consistently meets its customers’ expectations,” continued company president Brent Bois. “Our responsibility continues with providing a professional working environment for our employees, and maintaining a safety conscious truck fleet to share the roads with fellow motorists.”

For more information, contact Calhoun Truck Lines at www.calhountrucklines.com or call customer service at one of the four Calhoun Truck Lines locations.

© Copyright – Calhoun Truck Lines