Bulk Freight News & Industry Updates - Stay Ahead in Trucking

To be sure, a new campaign still features Jim Perdue, the chairman of Perdue Farms who has appeared in the company's pitches for 20 years. Mr. Perdue is, of course, the son of Frank Perdue, who helped remake the face of advertising when, in 1971, he became one of the first corporate chieftains to appear in commercials for his own products. Now, though, Jim Perdue is no longer taking a solo star turn. Beginning on Monday, he will be joined in spots for Perdue Farms by 10 or so employees, amon

The USA-based Gavilon recently celebrated the opening of its WA office in Perth's historical King Street with a golf day, river cruise and cocktail function for clients and guests. As the USA's second largest grain handler, the company offers considerable clout in the grain marketing stakes and will focus predominantly on wheat, barley, canola and sorghum. Nebraska, US-based vice president (international) David Levine and chief operating officer, agriculture James Anderson hosted the f

JOPLIN, Mo. -- The Army Corps of Engineers has awarded $140 million worth of contracts to Southwest Missouri companies for debris removal in Joplin, and a contract for temporary modular classrooms for the storm-ravaged Joplin School District. On Sunday, the corps announced: • A $40 million contract awarded June 24 to R&R Trucking, Duenweg, for debris removal in Joplin related to the May 22 tornado. • A $20 million contract awarded June 23 to Jeff Asbell Excavating and Trucking Inc., Car

ABERDEEN, S.D. -- A new $28 million Wheat Growers elevator east of Andover is ready to begin loading 110-car trains that will haul grain to the West Coast. The elevator can hold 3.1 million bushels of grain. Officials say the elevator is built so farmers can quickly unload grain at harvest and get back in the field. Wheat Growers vice president Stephen Briggs told the American News that the Andover terminal is part of a system-wide upgrade costing $100 million. Wheat Growers is a pro

PEORIA -- Anywhere but here. That's the message residents along a rural stretch of road partly between Trivoli and Farmington are sending about a grain elevator that agricultural company Ag-Land FS is asking Peoria County's permission to build nearby. The $15 million project has grabbed the interest of the county, with many board members insisting that it's absolutely the kind of effort the County Board wants to encourage. Nevertheless, in the face of neighborhood objections, they recently

GAVILON is a corporate name that few WA grain growers would immediately have front of mind when asked to list an option for marketing their grain. But with the official opening last Thursday night of Gavilon's Perth office in King Street, by USA chief operating officer, agriculture, James Anderson, that situation is set to change. The WA business of Gavilon is headed by general managers Matt Rutter and Justin Swan, who are well known throughout the WA grains industry. They will lead a tea

In their more than 20 years as truckers, Sharol and Curtis "Bear" Thompson would make side trips to barbecue restaurants, cafes, roadside stands and dives from coast to coast. It was their way of comparing the foods to the barbecue that Bear would whip up for his friends and family back home. Some was too sweet, some too hot, and some -- well, the meat was just too dry. Bear took it all in and used it to "perfect" his barbecue and Bears Rub. Now retired from trucking, the couple opened

Turnover for long-haul drivers in large truckload fleets hit an annualized rate of 75 percent during the first three months of the year, the American Trucking Associations American Trucking Associations Latest from The Business Journals Trucking firms boosted by lower fuel costsReport: Trucking firms to see growth aheadTruck shipments lag in April, American Trucking Associations says Follow this company reported Wednesday. That's a leap from the low of 39 percent during the same quarter la

Heavy truck traffic on a daily basis and water underneath the roadway are causes for the deterioration of roadway running underneath Osage Street underpass in Creston. Union County Engineer Steve Akes told the board of supervisors Monday he spoke with DeBruce Grain and they are willing to participate in finding a resolution to the water problems underneath Osage Street. Vi

A plan to produce more lysine and threonine, both amino acids, at Archer Daniels Midland Co.'s plant in Decatur, Ill., won't mean changes on the ethanol side. "This expansion will not impact ethanol production nor the protein content of Decatur's corn gluten feed," a spokesperson told EPM. The company announced June 20 that it would expand lysine and threonine amino acid production capacity in Decatur. ADM hopes to have the project completed by the second half of 2013 bringing total productio

Lansing Trade Group, LLC is in the final stages of acquiring a grain handling facility in Geneva NY from long time customer, Austic Grain, LLC. Upon completion of the purchase, Lansing will immediately begin construction to add storage space as well as increase both rail loading and truck unloading speed at the facility. Upon completion, Lansing will be operating a 630,000 bu. elevator capable of providing excellent service to New York farmers for the handling of corn, soybeans and other commodi

Forecasts for better weather next week sent grain prices falling today, and some ag stocks slid along with the commodities. Potash of Saskatchewan (POT) fell 1.9% in afternoon trading and Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) was down 1%. Bunge (BG) also fell about 1%. Wheat fell to eight month lows and corn dropped the maximum amount allowed by the Chicago Board of Trade, Bloomberg reported. The steep drops follow large increases in grain prices yesterday, as investors worried about the potential for

SALISBURY -- A recent acquisition has brought to light a change in the structure of Salisbury's largest company. Perdue Inc. was once the umbrella name for the Perdue family of companies. But last year, a holding company, FPP Family Investments, headquartered in Salisbury and owned by the Perdue family, became the controlling entity for three separate companies: Perdue Farms, producing food products; Perdue AgriBusiness, a grain operation that extends to bioenergy and animal feed; and FPP

Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey reminded farmers Tuesday they can't use grain that has been damaged by floodwaters as feed grain. Flood-damaged grain is considered adulterated. In a statement, Northey said: "The grain impacted by flood should be destroyed and not blended with uncontaminated grain. This warning does not apply to immature crops that have been flooded before producing grain," Northey said. "There is the potential for a wide variety of contaminants to enter grai

Nebraska City, Neb. -- According to the National Weather Service, the Missouri River at Nebraska City reached 27.31 feet as of 3:15 p.m. on June 21. Until today the Missouri River has been in a moderate flood stage. The current level puts the river at a major flood stage. The previous record level was 27.2 feet on July 23, 1993. The forecast for the river shows a prediction of 27.5 feet at around midnight. Flood stage is 18 feet. The National Weather Service issued a flood warning statin

While the Canadian prime minister has vowed to take away the Canadian Wheat Board's monopoly over sales of wheat and barley by August 2012, it's no sure thing, Mike Leslie, CEO of the Alberta Barley Commission told American barley growers Tuesday in Great Falls. "Don't start dancing in your red shoes 'til you know the witch is dead,'" he said, noting that the Canadian Supreme Court rejected a similar plan three years ago. U.S. barley growers who farm near the Canadian border, including outgo

CALGARY - Grain handler Viterra Inc. (TSX:VT) says a subsidiary has acquired an American pea and lentil seller to better serve demand from the Middle East and Asia. Calgary-based Viterra did not reveal how much it paid to buy Premier Pulses International Inc. of Lewiston, Idaho. Premier Pulses owns a cleaning and processing factory in North Dakota, as well as a warehouse where the peas and lentils are bagged and shipped. Viterra said Premier Pulses is located in the primary pea and lent

Ferro expects new US-Mexican demonstration project to get rolling in August A new cross-border trucking program with Mexico could be in place within two months, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administrator Anne S. Ferro said. However, she doesn't expect a wave of Mexican trucks heading for the U.S. border. Ferro spoke to trucking, logistics and technology industry executives at SMC3's annual summer conference last Thursday in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. The FMCSA expects the U.S. and Mexico

Gregory R. Hodgen has been elected chairman of the National Tank Truck Carriers (NTTC). Hodgen was elected at the organization's recent meeting in Baltimore, MD. He succeeds Steven J. Rush, CEO, of New Jersey-based Carbon Express. "This is a particularly exciting time to be part of the NTTC," said Hodgen, president & CEO of bulk-transporter Groendyke Transport. "I am both pleased and honored to serve as NTTC Chairman," he continued. "I believe that the organization is well-positioned to c

DECATUR -- Archer Daniels Midland Co. announced plans Monday to expand lysine and threonine amino acid production capacity at its Decatur facility. The expansion project, which is expected to allow the company to produce 340,000 metric tons of the products annually, is scheduled to be completed in the second half of 2013. The company wouldn't specify its current production capacity. "ADM is committed to growing our lysine and threonine business to meet increasing demand for these feed amin

LAS CRUCES - Psst. Come in a little closer, I have a personal question to ask. Did you cut back on buying new underwear during the recession? I know, I know, this question is for the wives and mothers. Guys rarely buy their own undies. But, believe it or not, sales of underwear - especially men's underwear, because, let's face it, we don't mind going longer with the same stash - can be an indicator of how the economic winds are blowing. The theory is that if you see sales fall off, that means

Even a fifth consecutive year of record global corn harvests will fail to meet demand for food, fuel and livestock feed, reducing world stockpiles to the lowest in two generations. Consumption will rise 3 percent in the next marketing year, a 16th consecutive annual gain that saw demand jump 66 percent, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates. Inventory will drop to 47 days of use, the fewest since 1974, the data show. Waterlogged fields in the U.S., the largest exporter, will

One option for out-of-condition wheat is to use it as animal feed, but several factors need to be considered before incorporating it into livestock diets. Stephen Boyles, an Ohio State University Extension beef specialist, says that as a general rule mold-free wheat can be used to substitute up to 50% of the grain portion of finishing diets for cattle. "While some experienced feeders have used larger amounts of wheat, I tend to recommend lower levels to people not familiar with feeding wheat,

MELROSE -- Pete Rothfork is already paying a near-record price of $7 a bushel for the corn to feed more than a million turkeys raised on his eight Stearns County farms. He doesn't want to see that price go any higher. So Rothfork worries about Archer Daniels Midland's plans to build a massive grain elevator for loading rail cars in St. Joseph Township, believing it will boost the price of corn. If he has to go farther and pay more for grain, Rothfork said he might have to eliminate some of h

Corn sold last week about 30 cents per bushel higher than wheat, something that hasn't happened since 1996 and only the second time corn has held such a premium since 1984. Iowa farmers know better than to exult over the price surge. It means that livestock feeders in the United States and around the world will start looking at wheat as a feed grain instead of the more expensive corn. "Whenever you get a premium on corn over wheat, then corn is in danger of losing a share of the feed grain

WORLDWIDE – The dream of a car or truck which happily transports passengers and freight without the assistance of a man or woman at the wheel has been around as long as the internal combustion engine. Many will have heard the tale of the purchaser of a new RV who upon seeing 'Cruise Control' on the dashboard engaged it whilst on the freeway and retired to the kitchen to make a coffee thinking the vehicle possessed Autopilot, with easily imagined consequences. Now that story may or may not be

OMAHA (DTN) - Current and anticipated closures of grain-buying locations along the Missouri River have reduced local grain demand and pressured prices. DTN's national cash price index and basis bids show weakening along the Missouri River, where deliveries are problematic, while bids in the Eastern Corn Belt are abnormally strong for this time of year. "Corn basis in eastern Nebraska began weakening about two weeks ago, when the flood threat first reared its head," said Darrell Mark, Univers

AG Processing Incorporated is considered one of the world's largest soybean processors. This farmer-owned cooperative is headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska. History AG Processing Incorporated was founded in 1983 with the combined efforts of three US-based soybean processing companies. These companies are Land O'Lakes, Farmland Industries and Boone Valley. In that year, Farmland and Land O'Lakes combined their soybean processing facilities in Minnesota, Iowa and Arkansas into the new company th

OMAHA, Neb.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Gavilon, LLC today announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to purchase the refined products rack marketing business from Plains All American Pipeline, L.P. The transaction will significantly expand Gavilon's participation in the wholesale fuels business, as it will give the company access to approximately 180 terminals throughout the United States. The acquisition is expected to be complete during the third quarter of 2011. "We are looking forward t

By Jan Rahn Managing Editor A runaway rail car smashed head on into a parked train east of Wallace causing an undetermined amount of damage and shutting down the railway for nearly 72 hours. "Fortunately, no one was hurt," said Mike Ogborn, spokesperson for NKC RailNet in Denver, who described the incident that occurred Tuesday afternoon about 4 p.m. CDT. According to Ogborn, employees of Scoular Company in Grainton were moving a loaded hopper car of corn with a front-end loader. The car got

Livestock producers in the U.S. are feeding more wheat to cattle, hogs and poultry after the grain became the cheapest relative to corn in 15 years. Effingham Equity, a feed and farm-supply company based in Effingham, Illinois, will add wheat in its hog-feed rations for only the second time in at least 26 years, said Mark Tarter, the grains-department manager. The company also used wheat in 2008, the last time corn reached a record, he said. "We work really closely with producers to help

Hamburg, Ia. - After a frantic week of round-the-clock sandbagging, evacuations and attempts to patch a failed levee that refused to stay patched, this southwest Iowa town of nearly 1,200 is breathing a bit easier. With the help of 85 Iowa National Guard members and the Army Corps of Engineers, it appears that work will be completed on a 1.5-mile-long earthen barrier before the surging floodwaters of the Missouri River arrive later today. Dave Ray, one of the Army Corps' geotechnical engin

Surging commodity prices played havoc with the U.S. trucking industry's bottom line for much of the year, but they are now starting to ease in the face of rising concerns about weakening global economic growth and the "Eurozone" debt crisis. According to Credit Suisse Asset Management, 16 out of 19 index constituents decreased in value this past May, with precious metals such as gold and silver serving as the weakest sector. Share Article Tools BookmarkEmailReprintSavePrintCommentA

The U.S. Department of Agriculture said Monday that 84 percent of Iowa's corn crop and 82 percent of the state's soybeans were rated good to excellent. The state is expected to lose corn planted in Woodbury, Monona, Harrison, Pottawattamie, Mills and Fremont counties, which are in the path of the expected flood on the Missouri River this week. The Missouri River flooding is expected to affect about 450,000 of the 90 million acres forecast by the USDA to be planted to corn nationwide. Bu

6/14/2011 By TIM UNRUH Salina Journal Print | Email MARQUETTE -- A quick fix stopped a slow wheat leak from Joel Nelson's combine. Stocked with ample supplies of duct tape, the farmer plugged the gap and watched the last of his bin unload into a semitrailer. A stash of baler wire also was poised for service Monday as harvest restarted near Marquette. Scorching temperatures were welcome in an area where streaks of green were still evident in many wheat fields. After l

Mergers. Acquisitions. Increasing capacities. Start ups. Layoffs. Bankruptcies. Examine the headlines about ethanol producers from May 2010 to May 2011 and these words jump off the page. The spring 2011 ethanol plant map, distributed with the May issue of Ethanol Producer Magazine, shows the U.S. industry has 211 ethanol plants, both producing and idled, with a combined capacity of 14.31 billion gallons yearly and an average plant size of 67 MMgy. Canada has 15 plants contributing another 480

Reduced prospects for corn acreage lowered projected U.S. feed grain production for 2011/12 by 7.7 million metric tons. Production for 2011/12 is projected at 348.3 million tons. Total use is 2.5 million tons below last month's projection as higher prices reduce prospects for feed and residual use. Ending stocks are projected sharply at 20.7 million tons, a 5.3-million-tons decrease of lower than last month from May's estimate and the lowest level since the 1995/96 crop year. Feed and residua

Experts say China may buy at least 2 million tons of corn from America BEIJING - China is hungry for more corn. To feed the need, experts predict the world's second-biggest corn consumer will import record amounts of corn from the United States this year. Ding Shengjun, a senior researcher at the Academy of State Administration of Grain, said China needs to import at least 2 million tons of corn from the US this year to stockpile and rotate its corn reserves. "China has consumed a la

As expected as Oklahoma's wheat harvest nears completion, crops statewide are dismal after drought, hail and tornadoes punished farmers. When harvesting is finished, the wheat crop is expected to be down about 38 percent from last year, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates. "There have been a lot of acres that were plowed under and called a loss," said Mike Schulte, executive director of the Oklahoma Wheat Commission. "It's bad." Crops are particularly bad in the sout

OMAHA, NEBRASKA, U.S. -- Green Plains Renewable Energy, Inc. announced on June 6 that through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Green Plains Grain Company, it has completed the acquisition of 2 million bushels of federally-licensed grain storage located in Hopkins, Missouri, U.S. previously owned by Horizon Grain of Hopkins, Inc. and GS Grain LLC. The grain elevator is located approximately 45 miles from the company's Shenandoah, Iowa, U.S. ethanol production facility. "Expanding our agribusiness

The government's latest crops outlook brought unwelcome news for Mike Engler, a Texas feedlot operator who's watched profits evaporate in recent months as corn prices soared to records and the cattle market slumped. There's no apparent end in sight for tight corn supplies and high feed costs for Engler and other beef, pork and dairy industries, based on the U.S. Department of Agriculture's monthly Supply and Demand update June 9: http://bit.ly/jScNnT. A wet, cold spring delayed fieldwork i

As a follow-up to this recent CD post on strong big-truck sales in May, Indiana-based Americas Commercial Transportation (ACT) Research (a leading publisher of new and used commercial vehicle industry data, market analysis, and forecasting services for the North American market) is also reporting that orders for heavy-duty commercial vehicles remained strong in May. Orders for Class 8 vehicles increased by 85% from the same month last year, and were above the 24,000 unit level for the seventh s

test post 3

https://www.bulkloads.com/tools/podcasts/the-supply--demand-of-the-oil-industry-with-blue-sexton/