NEWS IN BRIEF, Continued from page 13
Trucking revenue rose 2.6 percent
last year. The record $700.4 billion accounted for 80.3 percent of all freight transportation spending, according to the American Trucking Associations’ “American Trucking Trends” report. The growth was slower than that of
2013, when trucking revenue expanded 6.2 percent, but it marked the first time industry-wide revenue has ever exceeded $700 billion. Revenue has been on an upward
trend since the beginning of the eco- nomic recovery, as shippers responded to the recovery in demand following the 2008-2009 economic downturn. “Revenue has made a stronger comeback than tonnage has,” said Bob Costello, the trade group’s chief economist. “Revenue has done well because
truckers are doing solid volume, and capacity is tough to grow today,” Mr. Costello said. “Many fleets are unable
to find all the drivers they want to hire.” The driver shortage is fueled in part
by a demographic problem. Trucking companies are not able to recruit many younger workers to become professional truck drivers. The average age of a truck driver is 49, compared with 42 for work- ers overall, Mr. Costello said. “There are other job opportunities
out there, including ones that keep you home each night,” he said. “It was very common to hear 8, 10, 12 percent sal- ary increases among truck drivers last year.” Many large trucking companies are offering signing bonuses of $1,500 to $2,000 to truckers who stay at the same job for 90 days, Mr. Costello said.
BLAIR LOGISTICS ACQUIRES FIKES TRUCK LINE Fikes Truck Line will be clos-
ing its doors, but Blair Logistics out of Birmingham, Ala. has joined for- mer Fikes President and CEO, Gary Salisbury, as a strategic partner and will
operate the business that formerly ran as Fikes Truck Line. Some employees and owner-oper-
ators will continue their work under Blair. “I felt it was very important to talk to the same people, same dis- patcher, same safety people they have been talking to for the past 30 years,” Salisbury said. The recession and costly lawsuits
have made the past few years difficult for Fikes and paychecks slow for its workers. Salisbury credits the professional-
ism of Fikes’ owner-operators who con- tinued to work despite not getting paid. “It’s hard to believe that they are
out there working and we owe them money,” he said. “We are going to get them paid.” Salisbury has been retained as
a consultant to Blair Logistics and has maintained the FTL Custom Commodities fleet. FTL Custom Commodities and a few remaining employees will move to a new location
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ARKANSAS TRUCKING REPORT | Issue 3 2015
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