States looks to privatize highway rest stops

Recent year financial constraints have forced state officials nationwide to slice budgets, causing some state legislatures to look for commercial support for rest stops.

Maryland House members will hold a Feb. 28 hearing on a bill to permit rest areas and welcome centers within state highway right-of-ways to privatize operation and maintenance services.

On Dec. 7, Maryland officials cut service hours to primarily daytime at several rest areas and closed one rest area to decrease operational costs.

In New Jersey, legislators are considering identical bills to allow private entities to sponsor some state highway rest stops in exchange for alleviating maintenance costs.

The measure would permit the state’s turnpike authority, transportation department and the South Jersey Transportation Authority to enter these agreements with the private sector. The Senate bill was introduced Feb. 4 and the Assembly legislation Nov. 29.

The Washington state Senate heard concerns over implementation cost at a Jan. 29 hearing on legislation to allow rest area demonstration projects where state rest stops currently do not exist. Private and non-profit groups would provide rest area service at no cost to WDOT and money the state receives from these projects would be deposited into the state motor vehicle account.

Read more here.

Finally - Retail Imports to Increase 8.5 Percent in February After Ports Contract Deal Reached

With a tentative contract deal reached with East Coast and Gulf Coast dockworkers – though a key West Coast agreement remains unsettled – import cargo volume at the nation’s major retail container ports is expected to increase 8.5 percent in February over the same month last year, according to the monthly Global Port Tracker report released by the National Retail Federation and Hackett Associates.

“We were very happy to see a deal on a tentative contract for the East Coast and Gulf Coast ports, but we are urging the parties to quickly work out any outstanding issues and ratify the agreement as soon as possible,” says Jonathan Gold, NRF vice president for supply chain and customs policy. “We need a long-term labor contract in place to give retailers and the other industries that depend on the ports confidence that cargo will continue flowing. We were disappointed that the LA/Long Beach clerical workers’ contract wasn’t ratified, but are encouraging the parties to work through their differences without a disruption.”

The International Longshoremen’s Association and the U.S. Maritime Alliance reached tentative agreement February 1 on a contract that avoided a strike that could have shut down East Coast and Gulf Coast ports from Maine to Texas. The agreement is subject to reaching supplemental local agreements and ratification by union members. Members of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union’s Local 63 Office Clerical Unit voted down a tentative agreement with the Harbor Employers Association that ended an eight-day strike at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach in November and December 2012.

U.S. ports followed by Global Port Tracker handled 1.32 million twenty-foot equivalent units in December, the latest month for which after-the-fact numbers are available. That was up 2.8 percent from November and up 8 percent from December 2011.

Read more here.

ReedTMS is hiring an accounting professional!

ReedTMS has recently posted an available position in the accounting department located in Brandon, Florida. This position includes all aspects of customer and vendor accounting, including billing and accounts receivable, accounts payable, banking, monthly closing processes, project opportunities, maximizing use of technology.

ReedTMS is an asset-based third-party logistics provider comprised of Reed Transport Services, Inc. and TMS Logistics, Inc. In 2010, Reed Transport and TMS Logistics formed a strategic partnership to provide expanded service offerings that address the logistics and transportation needs of shippers.

Office environments are informal, fast paced and spirited. There is a real energy on the floor! Employees are encouraged to promote a positive, enjoyable, family atmosphere and to have fun every day!

Interest applicants should check out the website to read more - Click here.

Mexican strawberries squeeze Hillsborough farmers

Mexico is exporting a record number of strawberries to the United States, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Through Jan. 28, Mexico exported 20 percent more of the fruit than the same period a year before, which also was a record-setting year.

"Mexico is importing more and more each year over past four or five years," said Carl Grooms, owner of Fancy Farms in Plant City. "Anytime another country brings in an agricultural item and puts it on a shelf, it takes away opportunities of American farmers."

The problems that come with importing goods is a double-edge sword. Competition is good, and should always be seen as such. Competition is what keeps prices down and controls the market. If we only had one strawberry farmer, they would control the prices, making a huge profit and no one to say otherwise.

But when you’re losing American jobs because of it, then that becomes the problem. I think a lot of this can be changed with better marketing schemes. American consumers like to purchase American products. We feel like it’s our duty to support the local farmer, so I believe there could lie the solution. Along with Americans enjoying the idea of domestic made goods, they could expand on that idea and show how little time is spent between the farm and the store shelf. The product is fresher when grown locale versus produce that comes from across the border.

All in all, the farmers need to do something to try and squeeze the Mexican farmers out of the market here, because they certainly aren’t going away.

To read more on the topic, click here.

Overturned truck blocks traffic on Howard Frankland Bridge

TAMPA --
Traffic on Interstate 275 has been blocked this morning by an overturned gravel truck at the west end of the Howard Frankland Bridge.

The report on the truck came in just after 10 a.m., according to the Florida Department of Transportation. The truck overturned near the Fourth Street exit.

Gravel from the truck was covering all the southbound lanes and some of the northbound lanes.

Traffic is being backed up in both directions. Motorists are advised to find different routes.
No other information was available.

Stay with TBO.com for updates.

Reed Leads - Business world Magazine

Reed Transport was recently featured in an article my Business world Magazine. Check out some of the highlights here.

First priority
At Reed Transport Services Inc., their vision is to develop and grow by creating opportunities for employees – who, in turn, drive value to customers and partners. To execute on that mission, the company has made their employees their “first and foremost priority,” says Mike Ryan, COO of ReedTMS. “Our culture here is to take really good care of our employees, and they take care of our customers and our carriers, which helps drive the business.”

Employees are taken care of in many ways, Ryan says. They are provided with compensation at or above market value, benefits, events, atmosphere, and more. The idea is that a happy employee is a productive employee, which in turn creates a happy client.  “We hire a lot of life people. We feel like you spend more time at work than you do with your own family, so you want the employees to enjoy working with one another,” Ryan says. “We hire like-minded individuals.”

Leading technology
To help drive efficiency, Reed Transport Services, Inc. uses two of the industry’s leading technology platforms, as well as their own internally-developed proprietary software. “Between three systems, we’re doing pretty well,” Reed says.  Their systems help the company to push forward their pricing and lane analytics in order to acquire additional strategic lanes and opportunities. “We’ve got all kinds of analytics that we look at through our reporting mechanisms.”

Drivers needed
One of the main challenges for Reed Transport Services, Inc. has been the difficulty they have had in acquiring drivers in certain markets. “It’s very challenging to recruit drivers in the northeastern Wisconsin region, which is where our main terminal is,” says Reed.  Responding to that challenge, the company has begun offering various incentives upon recruiting, including signing bonuses.

Operational expansion
Looking ahead at the longer term, Reed Transport Services, Inc. will expand their operations in and outside of Florida, for example, where they’ve utilized the significantly-sized ports state-wide and along the Gulf Coast. “The East Coast is starting to get some of the bigger container ships coming from overseas. The widening of the Panama Canal will have a positive effect on our domestic truckload opportunities,” Reed says. “Getting into some port services is a possibility with maybe some warehousing and cross-docking. It certainly is a viable option.”

Read the full story here.

President Signs Military CDL Act

President Barack Obama Friday signed the Military Commercial Drivers' License Act of 2012, which will make it easier for veterans and service men and women to obtain Commercial Drivers' Licenses, making them more employable once they leave active-duty.

The law will enable an active duty service man or woman to go through the training and skill acquisition necessary to obtain a CDL while they are performing their duties in service to the United States. The fact that they may be serving in a state other than their home state will no longer be an obstacle.

Previously, states were only able to issue CDLs to persons who are legal residents in the state. Since many military personnel often receive their vehicle training in locations other than their homes of record, including their duty stations, the old law made it difficult for them to obtain a CDL before leaving military service. The law creates an exception allowing states to test and issue commercial driver's licenses to service members who are domiciled in another state.

It was one of those rare bills that everyone in the trucking industry seemed to agree on.

The Teamsters Union applauded the signing of the bill.

"With construction projects ramping up there is an increased need for safe, dependable truck drivers with CDLs," said Jim Hoffa, Teamsters General President. "Through our work with the Teamsters Military Assistance Program and Helmets to Hardhats, we know that our active duty military and veterans are valued for their military training, making them sought-after candidates for freight and construction work."

In a statement when the bill passed Congress earlier this month, American Trucking Associations President and CEO Bill Graves said, "As the economy continues to recover, it is becoming ever more challenging for trucking companies to find qualified drivers to move America's most essential goods," Graves said. "Veterans with experience driving trucks in the military are highly sought after."

"Making it easier for veterans to move into these jobs is a good thing for the military, for the veterans themselves and for our industry."

Other groups expressing their support included the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association and the Military Officers Association of America.