Heartland's Income Drops

Heartland Express said its third-quarter profit fell 19.3% from a year ago.

Net income fell to $12.4 million, or 15 cents per share, from $15.4 million, or 17 cents, a year ago.

Revenue rose 1.9% to $135 million, the truckload carrier said Thursday.

Heartland said it was continuing to upgrade its trailer fleet and that it took delivery of 496 new Wabash trailers in the third quarter.

By the end of the 2012, its entire trailer fleet will be 2007 models or newer, Heartland said.

Heartland Express is ranked No. 47 on the Transport Topics 100 listing of U.S. and Canadian for-hire trucking companies.

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Construction Spending Drops in August

Construction spending fell in August, the Commerce Department said Monday.

The 0.6% drop was the biggest decrease since July 2011, and followed a revised 0.4% decrease in July, that was smaller than previously estimated, Commerce said.

Economists had forecast a 0.5% increase, Bloomberg reported.

Private non-residential construction spending decreased 1.7%, while homebuilding outlays rose 0.9%.

Public construction dropped 0.8% from the prior month.

Construction spending can boost demand for trucking services because spending increases the number of shipments of goods and building materials.

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Cost of ground transportation for Canadian shippers drops in June: CGFI

TORONTO, Ont. -- The cost of ground transportation for Canadian shippers decreased 1.3 % in June when compared with May results, according to the latest results from the Canadian General Freight Index (CGFI).

The Base Rate Index, which excludes the impact of accessorial charges assessed by carriers, decreased by 0.95% when compared to May.  

Average fuel surcharges assessed by carriers have seen a decrease from 22.1% of base rates in April to 20.8% in June.

"Looking back, total freight costs have now registered close to the same level as June 2011," said Doug Payne, president and COO of Nulogx, which facilitates the CGFI. "It appears that the combinations of downward pressures on base rates are being offset by higher fuel and accessorial charges from a year ago."

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Canadian spot market freight drops 21% in July: TransCore

TORONTO, Ont. -- Spot market freight dropped 21% in July, according to the latest figures from TransCore’s Canadian Freight Index, keeping in line with the traditional summer slowdown, the company said. With the annual onset of summer construction, vacations and company shutdown periods, July experienced the third lowest volumes of any month this year; however, it was the fourth most active July on record finishing 5% behind July 2011.

Cross-border postings decreased two points, accounting for 73% of overall load postings. Intra-Canada postings contributed 23% of the total load volumes, increasing 1% from June.

Equipment postings jumped 9% month-over-month and were up significantly year-over- year, increasing 21%. The equipment-to-loads ratio increased in July, reaching the highest levels for 2012.

Top destinations for loads imported into Canada were: Ontario (54%), Western (23%), Quebec (20%), and Atlantic (3%). Western Canada increased 3%, while Quebec decreased 3%. The remaining regions remained unchanged.

Top regions for import equipment into Canada were: Ontario (53%), Western (23%), Quebec (21%), and Atlantic (3%). Western Canada decreased 1% while Quebec increased 1% The remaining regions remained unchanged.

Regions of origins for loads within Canada were: Western (44%), Ontario (26%), Quebec (22%), and Atlantic (8%). The regions remained unchanged from last month.

The top states of origin for loads destined to Canada in order of most loads were Pennsylvania, Ohio, California, Illinois and Texas.

The top US destinations for freight originating in Canada were New York, Texas, Pennsylvania, California and Michigan.

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