TRUCKING INDUSTRY NEWS * USA & Canada

* Mississippi - Regional flooding drips into trucking industry

Tupelo,MISS,USA -WTVA, by Justin Lewis -5 May 2011:  --  This means the northwestern part of Mississippi is on high alert as the government expects river water to rise causing serious flooding...  Trucking companies in Tupelo were on the phones constantly Thursday talking to state highway departments and looking at alternate routes for drivers. All because of rapid flooding, mainly as waters flood homes and streets around Memphis...  Interstate 40 is partially closed because of flooding, causing detours and longer routes that have the industry concerned...  When dealing with national trucking companies they not only have to worry about what's going on around Memphis, but also flooding in other states like Missouri and Illinois which they say is very unusual for this time of the year...  Sixty-percent of traffic on Highway 40 is semi-trucks. With many of our goods coming that route, meaning the trickle-down affect of the flood could end in our pockets...  (Photo by Rogelio V. Solis / AP: In this May 5, 2011 the Lighthouse Point Casino in Greenville, Miss., drive a truck away from the loading dock through Lake Ferguson floodwaters)

* Kansas - YRC Worldwide to Hire Network Engineers. LTL trucking giant seeks sustainable savings from more efficient network

Overland Park,KN,USA -The Journal of Commerce Online, by William B. Cassidy  -May 10, 2011: -- YRC Worldwide is searching for engineers to help optimize its network to save fuel — and money — by making the trucking company greener and more efficient...  The troubled less-than-truckload operator, which plans to complete a financial restructuring this summer, said it will invest in a more efficient fleet. Trailer wind skirts, switching to a full-synthetic motor oil and purchasing more fuel-efficient tractors are part of the carrier’s plans to reduce fuel use and expense...  Those savings would complement other efforts by the company to reduce its cash burn and increase liquidity after losing $102 million in the first quarter...

* DC - USPS Loss Reaches $2.2 Billion. Postal Service warns it may run out of cash by Sept. 30

Washington, D.C.,USA -The Journal of Commerce Online -May 10, 2011: -- The U.S. Postal Service's red ink got deeper in its fiscal second quarter, as continued high costs and a 3.1 percent drop in mail volume sent the USPS to a $2.2 billion net loss following a $1.6 billion loss in the same quarter a year ago... The results brought overall losses at the Postal Service to $17.6 billion since 2008, leaving the USPS more likely to run out of cash and at the limits of its borrowing authority of the end of its fiscal year in September...  Overall revenue declined 2.8 percent to $16.2 billion in the fiscal quarter ending March 31, and core mail services revenue was off 3.9 percent to $14 billion...  The USPS has seen some gains from an expanded Shipping Services division, which targets business customers. Revenue in that operation grew 5 percent and shipment count grew 3.5 percent over the same fiscal quarter a year ago...

* Ontario - APTA: Trucking industry paying more for tires

(Photo from atlpacific: Fillmore Trucking's trucks) 

Toronto,ONT,CAN -680 News Radio -May 10, 2011: -- The trucking industry is now paying more for tires, according to the Atlantic Provinces Trucking Association... Skyrocketing costs for natural rubber has seen the cost of tires jump nearly seven per cent in the last month alone... Jean-Marc Picard, executive director of the Atlantic Provinces Trucking Association, said the ever-rising cost of fuel has been a major concern and now rising tire costs will make it hard for some carriers to keep their head above water... The operator of Fillmore Trucking, Donnie Fillmore, said the only way to cope is to charge more, and that means the rising costs get passed on to consumers...