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Maintaining a competitive edge.

The $20 billion less-than-truckload (LTL) industry has been on a roll for two years, and it looks as if the industry is headed for another strong year in 1999. The "Big Four" national carriers, profitable since 1997, exceeded earnings expectations for the first quarter.

The Big Four include Consolidated Freightways, Yellow Freight, Roadway Express, and ABF Freight System. The four carriers together in 1998 brought in revenues of $9.4 billion, or almost half of the revenues for the entire LTL industry. Their average 1998 operating ratio was 97.1 percent, slightly off th

In addition, make sure to read these premium articles also available with your free trial:

  • LTL trucking outlook: good news or bad? (less-than-truckload)premium_logo
    • Carrier executives expressed their hopes and anxieties about the future of the trucking industry in a review and forecast survey. Some less-than-truckload carriers voiced their ......
  • LTL has arrived ... on time. (less-than-truckload)(quality of freight...premium_logo
    • Results of the 1998 Quest for Quality survey indicated that purchasers of less-than-truckload freight services regarded on-time performance the most important criteria in measuring the ......
  • Transportation plus.premium_logo
    • National LTL carriers are adding services and using their physical scale and geographic coverage to offer more than just commodity services. For a long time ......
  • The service is great. Now what?premium_logo
    • First, regional less-than-truckload (LTL) carriers established their reputation for reliable service on overnight lanes. Successful carriers organized systems that avoided the delays and problems associated ......
  • Roadway[R] Corporation.(Research Notes)(financial information on...premium_logo
    • Company Rating: Overweight/Volatile Industry Fundamentals: Improving Company Description Roadway Corporation, founded in 1930 and headquartered in Akron, Ohio, is predominately a national long-haul less-than-truckload (LTL) ......
  • The importance of being online. (logistics)premium_logo
    • Results of the 1998 Quest for Quality survey evaluated various attributes associated with a logistic carrier's performance. These attributes focused on less-than-truckload carriers' information technology ......
  • Demand takes toll on truckload performance.premium_logo
    • Business is good for the nation's truckload carriers, but the pressure to keep up with business has caused on-time performance to suffer. Truckload carriers' transit-time ......
  • Another stellar year for LTL? (less-than-truckload segment of the...premium_logo
    • The less-than-truckload (LTL) segment of the trucking industry is optimistic of maintaining a strong presence in 1998 despite the many difficulties it is facing. Among ......
  • New options for time-sensitive deliveries.premium_logo
    • Over the past several years, more and more carriers specializing in delivering time-sensitive shipments have come on the scene. These include FedEx, UPS, USPS, and ......
  • Trucking.premium_logo
    • Less-than-truckload rates continued to edge up in January, climbing 1.1% from December 1998 levels . By contrast, truckload carriers raised prices by only 0.4% from ......
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  • Briefs
    • Trucking firm Con-Way Transportation Services, a subsidiary of CNF best known for its less-than-truckload (LTL) service, has begun operation of its truckload business. Con-Way Truckload began operations in the first quarter of 2005. Since the mid-2004 announcement that it was opening a truckload business, Con-Way has purchased 46 new tractors ......
  • Strategic and performance changes among LTL motor carriers: 1976-1993.
    • Deregulation of the U.S. motor carrier industry has brought about tremendous changes in the industry environment and the industry itself. This study focuses on a particular industry segment, the less-than-truckload (LTL) interstate general freight segment. LTL carriers, consisting of the largest firms in the trucking industry, have faced many changes ......
  • Price Trends
    • Source: Elizabeth Baatz, Thinking Cap Solutions. E-mail: ebaatz@ice-alert.com Trucking Average prices charged by LTL carriers fell 2.2% in October. That was the largest single-month price cut since the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics started reporting the data in 1992. As for the truckload market, average prices declined 1.2% in October....
  • Truck driver shortage revisited.
    • Abstract Despite the recent economic downturn and the subsequent increase in unemployment rates, driver turnover remains a serious problem in the trucking industry. Since driver turnover contributes to cost inflation and service disruptions, it has afar-reaching effect on the trucking firm's competitiveness. To control high driver turnover, trucking firms have ......
  • Price Trends
    • Trucking The U.S. trucking industry pushed through an average 0.7% price hike from March to April. That increase was partly due to a 2.2% jump in LTL prices. Truckload operators, in contrast, managed to push up prices by just 0.6% over the same period. Comparing April 2006 to the same ......
  • Management Update
    • Importers and exporters need to play the numbers game this month. February 3 was the effective date for major revisions to the Harmonized System (HS), the global system for numerically identifying items moving in international trade. All told, customs authorities in 169 countries are updating their tariffs to reflect the ......
  • Highway hall-of-famers
    • The ranks of national less-than-truckload (LTL) carriers have grown smaller this past year. First Yellow Transportation and Roadway Express joined forces, then that combination acquired fellow LTL carrier, USF Corp. Later on, UPS bought Overnite, shrinking the pool even further. Not only has the marketplace consolidated, but remaining LTL carriers ......

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    • An agreement between the U.S. Departments of State and Transportation and the government of Japan will slacken the U.S.-Japan bilateral air services agreement and thereby allow increased freedom for U.S. and Japanese airlines.
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    • Business travelers in western European will now be forced to give 48-hours notice of their plans to visit the U.S. The measure is likely to increase concern among business travelers and tourists about the inconvenience of U.S. travel.
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    • Yes, freight costs have increased, but domestically, they have increased less.If your company primarily serves the domestic market, emphasize this point to your customers.
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