trucking Archives - Calhoun Truck Lines

Snapshot: Who’s Behind the Wheel?

September 5, 2014/in Calhoun Truck Lines/by Brett Bennett

At the March 2014 meeting of the Truckload Carriers Association, a synapsis was released of an eight-year analysis of TL driver data, giving an accurate snapshot of who’s behind the wheel. Collected by Sylectus, a business unit of Omnitracs Canada Inc., via its web-based transportation management software (TMS), the data gives insight into not only the demographics of professional truck drivers, but motivations and drive as well.

Generally speaking, drivers tended to report feeling relatively happy with their jobs:

Driver satisfaction levels remained stable for seven straight seasons.
Turnover rates continue to fall steadily.

Still, on average, fleets will experience a fleet-wide turnover every 18 to 24 months. In spite of job satisfaction, adequate pay and time at home remain the top concerns for drivers.

The gender divide continues to be significant, with driver population remaining largely male dominated:

92% male
8% female

While the industry is still dominated by men who are trending older in age, and the average has increased in the past eight years:

Average age of male drivers went up by two years—from 46 to 48 years old—since 2006.
The average age of female drivers increased by three years—from 48 to 51 years old—making female drivers one to three years older than their male counterparts.

The tenure of drivers, or the length of time spent in the employ at a particular carrier, has decreased:

For male drivers, tenure has decreased to less than two years.
The tenure of female drivers has decreased to about one year and three months.

An interesting observation of the study in the area of decreased tenure was the parallel fluctuation, due in part to husband and wife teams, where one spouse resigns after the other. Not surprisingly, when drivers leave, they do so for the same considerations that affect job satisfaction:

51% leave for a better-paying position.
41% want to spend more time at home.

Overall, the study found that, in order to keep drivers satisfied, the key factor was to keep them rolling. By customizing jobs to suit driver preferences, keeping equipment updated, and keeping a finger on the pulse of what’s happening in the field, the industry will continue to attract high-quality, hard-working driving professionals to keep America moving forward.

Minnesota’s 10% Biodiesel Mandate

July 31, 2014/in Calhoun Truck Lines/by Brett Bennett

July 1, 2014 ushered in a change in the existing biodiesel mandate—contentious since its 2002 passage—on the percentage present in diesel fuel blends. Approved in an act of the 2014 Minnesota Legislature, many Minnesota diesel users (those in certain industries are exempted temporarily or indefinitely) are required to purchase diesel blends containing at least ten percent biodiesel; from October until March, due to lower daily temperatures and the threat of fuel gelling the requirement will be 5 percent biodiesel. Currently, state law requires every gallon of diesel fuel to contain at least 5 percent biodiesel, and 2 percent during the winter; supporters are applauding the initiative which raises the percentage to the highest in the nation.

Image courtesy of mn.gov

The mandate is good for the farmers of the region: biodiesel is most often made from soybean oil, which, as the nation’s third highest-producing soybean state, Minnesota has in abundance. Unfortunately, the mandate may not ultimately be good for consumers, who could bear its unintended cost: higher prices for transportation and goods.

Industry leaders argue that legislators were aware of the potential problems associated with increasing the percentage of biodiesel prior to passing the bill. Major exemptions contained in the state’s new biodiesel statute are considered by John Hausladen, president of the Minnesota Trucking Association, as “a de facto admission by the Legislature that a universal, year-round biodiesel mandate is simply too risky for Minnesota’s economy.” Exemptions are in place for railroads, taconite and copper mining, and logging, with permanent exemptions in place for the state’s nuclear power industry, and the U.S. Coast Guard. Hausladen added that, “through such action, legislators acknowledged that biodiesel is not reliable enough to ensure that these vital industries would not suffer serious disruptions.”

Truck operators in all industries face the potential for complications with the use of biodiesel, and to avoid breakdowns, truckers invest in preventive measures: more frequent filter changes, adding heating devices and anti-gelling agents to fuel, augmenting their tank with No. 1 diesel, which costs significantly more and gets poorer fuel mileage.

When the original two percent biodiesel mandate law was passed in 2002, the burgeoning increase in demand for soybeans effectively created a new industry in rural Minnesota, one which is now mature and viable. It could be argued that the biodiesel mandate has sustained the industry throughout the years; still, several other states have fostered and grown similar industries without a mandate in place.

Proponents of the mandate laud biodiesel for a variety of reasons, but more research needs to be done. Millions are affected by the myriad implications tied to this increase—not just farmers, but also the producers, truckers and consumers. With more research into the short- and long-term effects of increased biodiesel use, better decisions—ones which take into account the needs of all those involved—will keep all sectors of Minnesota’s economy healthfully moving forward.

The Five Locations of Calhoun Truck Lines

June 19, 2013/in Calhoun Truck Lines/by Brett Bennett

Intermodal freight volumes are heading in the right direction for Calhoun Truck Lines, according to its President Brent Bois.

And that’s good news for the five operational facilities run by the Midwest intermodal freight operation. Since summer 2012, when Minneapolis, MN-based Calhoun Truck Lines has invested money into its infrastructure, adding top talent from the intermodal community, expanding into new locations, and elevating its service, truck fleet and capacity to handle more business.

Today in summer 2013, Calhoun Truck Lines offers customers intermodal freight services and trucking capabilities from five locations – Minneapolis, Omaha, Chicago, Indianapolis and Detroit. Each of these locations are fully and professionally staffed, have electronic monitoring of freight, are certified to move freight among all the 48 contiguous states, and meet all the industry standards for driver safety and fuel efficiency programs.

“We made it a goal to hire and contract with talented employees and more “A-level” players throughout the intermodal community,” said President Brent Bois. “Those decisions throughout the past 12 months are really paying dividends right now. I’ve been contacted by other industry players and drivers who are interested in what we have going on at Calhoun and want to be a part of it,” said Bois.

This momentum for Calhoun Truck Lines was fueled in part by its name change in summer 2012 to its current name, after competitors were confusing Calhoun’s customers and partners with similar trucking outfit names. Through this change and a ramping up of talent and services, Calhoun has developed a strong name in Midwest intermodal trucking.

The company has reinvested money back into its infrastructure, using new servers, Qualcomm devices for all Calhoun trucks, and better support for the field offices, according to Bois. In addition, Calhoun has increased compensation to their owner operators and added an incentive-based bonus pay for safe and accountable drivers.

As important as it is for Calhoun to reinvest in their infrastructure, Bois believes that the drivers come first. Over the next three years Bois believes Calhoun will invest more money in driver retention than technology. “Once a driver contracts with our company and establishes a good working relationship with dispatch,” remarked Bois, “we want to make sure they’re with us for the long run.”

Calhoun’s commitment to helping owner operators succeed is critical in an environment that’s starting to feel the impact of qualified drivers. This is important, as it helps make Calhoun Truck Lines a great option for safety conscious drivers looking to make good money and a solid trucking opportunity. For more information on the company and driving options, go to www.calhountrucklines.com.

$23 Billion Being Invested In The Intermodal Freight Railway Network.

November 20, 2012/in Calhoun Truck Lines/by Brett Bennett

As a company working in the Midwest intermodal transport business, we’re often described as being closely situated at the heart of our nation’s railway system.

There are over 140,000 miles of rail comprising a network that stretches across the major freight railroads in the United States, Canada and Mexico, as well as Amtrak. These railroads carry 43 percent of intercity domestic freight – more than any other mode of transportation.

Through this interconnected rail network, our U.S. freight railroads are a shining emblem as the world’s most efficient, lowest-cost freight rail system. Because of this transportation prowess, the U.S. has led for many years in developing state-of-the-art logistics systems for truckers, rail companies, and other freighters.

The benefits of this massive rail network across North America are many. According to the Association of American Railroads, freight railroads provide shippers like Calhoun Truck Lines an affordable and efficient way to move freight. Through this method, freight railroads provide enormous public benefits, including increased fuel efficiency, lower greenhouse gas emissions, and less highway congestion.

This is a circuitous way to tell how proud and excited we are at Calhoun Truck Lines to learn that the Association of American Railroads is investing $23 billion to build, maintain and upgrade the nation’s freight rail network throughout 2012. This is news that was recently announced in new ads released by The Association of American Railroads. You can see one of the clips below.

Just for comparison sake, the new ads show that $23 billion invested in the U.S. rail network is equivalent to four sports stadiums, five large bridges and eight convention centers. It’s a huge infrastructure project that most Americans don’t really even think about today. The AAR wants to bring awareness to the investment it makes in freight lines that enable goods and commerce to work well.

According to a recent story at RT&S, freight railroad companies support the country’s nationwide rail network so taxpayers don’t have to. “These investments in turn help keep American businesses competitive in the global marketplace, while supporting not only railroad jobs, but also supporting jobs throughout the economy,” said Edward Hamberger, president and CEO of AAR. “And by investing more than $500 billion since 1980, we have created the best freight rail network in the world.”

The AAR says that railroads invest about 17 percent of annual revenues on capital expenditures annually. That’s huge, a far higher amount per year compared to other U.S. goods manufacturers. These investments take shape in new rail tracks, bridges and tunnels; intermodal terminals for truck-to-train freight transport; modern safety equipment; new locomotive engines and other ways to keep our freight rail network running productively.

Calhoun Truck Lines at ATA Management Conference

October 10, 2012/in Calhoun Truck Lines/by Brett Bennett

The American Trucking Association’s ATA Management Conference & Exhibition this week continues to yield many benefits for those in attendance. Businesses in trucking, intermodal shipping, suppliers to the trucking and shipping industry and other interested participants are finding much to share between each other at the conference.

On Tuesday (Oct. 8) at the show, Stuart Varney of Fox News’ Varney & Company program moderated an interesting ATA conference panel discussion that focused on the economy, the outlook up to the presidential election, and its impact on the intermodal transportation industry. The panel consisted of Bob Costello (chief economist ATA), Gregory Daco (HIS Global Insight), and Lawrence Yun (National Association of Realators). The panelists shared a variety of viewpoints, with the general consensus from the group that the U.S. economy is still in slowdown mode, and will not be able to accelerate until more certainty is established in Washington and our country has a decision on presidential leadership.

The panel discussed the often-used phrase ‘the fiscal cliff” as well. Greg Daco said he anticipated that any real movement on the fiscal cliff would likely “get kicked down the road six months” after which point Congress will know what measures to put into place after the November elections. He said he feels that Congress will not allow America to go off this ‘cliff’. The panel also spent time talking about Europe and the fiscal crisis they face there as well. Daco suggested that the single biggest issue impacting our U.S. economy (aside from the fiscal cliff) is the health of foreign economies. He also remarked that Greece will ultimately drop out of the Euro in the second half of next year.

ATA’s Bob Costello made a very interesting comparison between the impact the price of diesel has had on our industry and how the price of equipment will have a similar impact over the next five to ten years.

“Equipment is becoming the new diesel in our industry,” Bob said, taking the stance that industry regulations are driving up the cost of equipment and smaller fleets are turning to leasing instead of buying. He said that it’s imperative that truck fleets continually improve the quality of their equipment to attract more drivers to their company. Unfortunately, many small carriers will have a difficult time obtaining proper financing for purchasing better trucks, unless current borrowing conditions improve. They will also likely find it more difficult to compete for a limited driver pool in the future.

One last impression from the panel was a spectator asked Fox’s Stuart Varney for his prediction of the upcoming presidential election. Not surprisingly, Varney said that he thought Romney would win the presidential election by five points.

Calhoun Truck Lines is one of the thousands of trucking and transportation industry executives attending the ATA conference this week. We’re learning much from the panels about trucking-related issues, intermodal shipping and the U.S. trucking industry.

Moving Goods Across the Midwest

August 1, 2012/in Calhoun Truck Lines/by Brett Bennett

In many ways, the trucking industry mirrors our nation’s economy. In good times, there is a lot of trucking traffic on our roads, and intermodal traffic increases are frequently seen. In recessionary times, there can be instances of fewer truck loads and fewer drivers, owing to less production of goods and services.

That’s the scenario that Calhoun Truck Lines has seen over the last several years, as most of our business indicators have been down or flat because of the recession. More than 150,000 jobs in the overall trucking industry vanished, even with the continuing demand for drivers. One industry report notes that the intermodal trucking industry will need to fill these vanished positions and more in 2012.

But with a slightly improving economy in an election year, and a handful of good reports showing increased trucking traffic, we continue to be optimistic about moving goods across the Midwest in 2012.

One of the more positive indicators we’ve seen for increased intermodal traffic is the decreasing fuel costs for diesel fuel over the last few months. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, costs of diesel fuel have decreased almost uniformly across the United States in 2012, compared to rates in 2011. In other words, prices throughout the Midwest for diesel fuel are almost 25 cents less that what they were at this time in 2011. That’s good news for companies like ours that depend on this basic fuel cost to do business at a reasonable price for the service we provide.

However, fuel costs continue to be an uncertain animal to tame. Many of the factors involved in pricing the costs of fuel and the raw prices for oil are, of course, out of our hands and in the hands of world and political factors. And because of the turmoil in the Middle East, there’s always a chance that the fluctuations for diesel will continue to impact our costs.

In fact, eTrucker, one of the leading websites for truckers, noted this past week that for the first time since April, diesel costs have slightly increased (but are still down from last year at this time, as noted above). Having lower fuel costs gives Calhoun Truck Lines a strong chance to be competitive in intermodal trucking and shipping. We’re hopeful that our economy will continue to improve and fuel prices will once again reach stability for businesses everywhere that depend on transportation.

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