The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) released a new report based on the group’s research last September. The new report, entitled “Behind the American Export Surge: the U.S. as One of the Developed World’s Lowest Cost Manufacturers,” predicts the U.S. has already started to see gains in manufacturing over competitive nations in Europe and Japan, and…
On Thursday, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce presented “The Future of Our Nation’s Infrastructure and What it Means for Trucking and the Economy” at the Fourth Annual Commercial Vehicle Outlook Conference. The presentation was made by Drew Preston, manager of congressional and public affairs for the Chamber, moderator Tom Lehner, and the public policy vice…
Until recently, U.S. manufacturing suffered as companies moved their factories and facilities overseas, primarily to Asia, to take advantage of the cheap labor pool and low shipping costs. The tide is turning, however, and now the U.S. is so competitive in terms of labor costs and shipping prices that U.S. companies are coming back. Furthermore,…
At long last, the longstanding goal of America (according to both major political parties) seems within reach. The U.S. is set to overtake Saudi Arabia as the world’s largest oil producer by the year 2017. By the year 2025, the U.S. will be exporting more than its importing, and should be fully energy independent by…
A new brand unveiled by Air Canada may have passengers wondering whether kindly hipsters have hijacked their planes. Air Canada Rogue, as the new airline is called, has introduced new uniforms for its on-flight crew. The uniforms are supposed to get passengers in the vacation spirit. Some people, however, may worry that they’ve accidentally boarded…
Overall, trucking companies had good news for their truckload profits as the first quarter of 2013 tallied up. ATA’s Truck Tonnage Index saw a 3.9 percent growth when compared to the same time period of 2012. However, the Cass Freight Index showed a lower growth on their calculations.
The trucking industry is always a good indicator of economic growth because home building and consumer purchasing directly affect how many tons of goods are shipped each quarter. The American Trucking Association (ATA) publishes a seasonally adjusted (SA) and non-seasonally adjusted report illustrating the amount of freight the trucking industry is shipping. According to the…
The Global Marketing Index (GMI) released monthly by Warc shows an upward trend in marketing spending across the world. The GMI stood at 51.7 points in February 2013 and rose to 52.4 points for March 2013. This is the highest GMI reading since April 2012, good news for the worldwide economic situation, and even better…
According to a report issued by the Freedonia Group Green Building Materials, green building materials will experience a greater rise in demand between now and 2017 than traditional building materials. The rebounding economy is spurring the overall growth of the construction and building materials industries, but consumer awareness of environmentally responsible alternatives, renewable energy sources,…
In 2011, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration made big changes to its previous regulations regarding how truckers handle their mandatory rest periods. Previously, drivers had a lot more flexibility in handling their hours of service regulations, which require drivers to get a certain number of resting hours per work day, along with a longer…