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ODFL opens New Hampshire facility, relocates another in Scranton, Pa.

Old Dominion Freight Line announced the recent opening of a service center in Walpole, N.H., and the relocation of another service center in Scranton, Pa.

The new 18-door facility in Walpole, located on a 4-acre site at 19 Industrial Park Drive, will begin operations under the leadership of Brian Langeway, manager of sales and service, who will direct a staff of eight.

“The opening of the Walpole service center will provide more direct service points in New Hampshire and Southern Vermont,” says Mark Madden, vice president of the Northeast region for the Thomasville, N.C.-based less-than-truckload carrier. “Old Dominion will be positioned to gain market share in points currently being served.”

The relocated Scranton service center is a 40-door facility located on a 4.5-acre site at 70 Freeport Road in Pittston. It will continue operations under the leadership of Mark Rossick, service center manager, who will direct a staff of 30.

“The relocation of the Scranton service center will help provide a more centralized location that will give us quicker access to service our customers’ needs,” Madden says.

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Con-way Freight Sends a Record 68 Drivers to National Truck Driving Championships

ANN ARBOR, MI--(MARKET WIRE)--Jul 31, 2008 -- Con-way Freight will send more drivers than ever before to American Trucking Associations (ATA)-sponsored National Truck Driving Championships in August. This year, 983 U.S. Con-way Freight drivers participated in state qualifying competitions. A total of 68 of the company's drivers representing 34 U.S. states came in first place and will compete at the event set for Aug. 19-23 in Houston. Drivers are invited to Nationals after winning their equipment classes during state competitions. Con-way Freight is a less-than-truckload (LTL) freight carrier and subsidiary of Con-way Inc.

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19 ABF State Driving Champions to Compete in National Truck Driving Championships

FORT SMITH, Ark., Aug. 4 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- ABF Freight System, Inc.®, is sending 19 championship drivers from 10 states to the 71th National Truck Driving Championships, August 19-23, 2008, in Houston, Texas. Professional drivers earn the right to compete in the National Championships by winning state driving championships and by maintaining an accident-free driving record for the past year.

Among the competitors representing ABF are seven repeat winners from 2007, including five former national champion drivers and four 2008 state driving grand champions.

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UPS nears agreement with drivers, handlers

United Parcel Service reached a tentative agreement with Chicago-based Teamsters Local 705 on a new contract covering roughly 11,000 drivers, package handlers and other part-time and full-time workers just hours ahead of a strike deadline, the parties said Thursday.

Workers' hourly pay currently ranges between roughly $8.50 and $28. That would rise $4 over the life of the five-year contract, Local 705 Secretary-Treasurer Steve Pocztowski said. The deal also includes improved pension benefits, an extra week of vacation plus an extra day off, he said.

The proposal will be voted on by workers within the next five weeks, Pocztowski said.

The union had vowed to strike at 12:01 Friday morning if an agreement was not reached.

UPS reached a tentative agreement with Teamsters Local 710 on a new five-year contract covering about 6,500 workers in Illinois, Indiana and Iowa on Tuesday.

That five-year agreement includes a more than 4 percent increase in wages and benefits and places limits on forced overtime, Chicago-based Teamsters 710 Secretary-Treasurer Pat Flynn said earlier this week. It also "dramatically increases part-time workers' health and welfare coverage," he said.

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Saia’s 2Q Profits Tumble on Fuel, Pricing Pressures

Saia Inc. on Friday reported that it earned $5.4 million, or 40 cents a share, in the second quarter, down from $10.4 million, or 72 cents, a year ago.

Revenue rose to $525 million from $485 million, said Saia, the parent company of less-than-truckload carrier Saia Motor Freight Line.

“Second quarter margins declined compared to the prior-year quarter primarily due to the weak shipping environment with expenses further impacted by escalating fuel cost and pricing pressure,” said Rick O’Dell, Saia’s chief executive officer.

LTL tonnage declined 1.9% from the previous second quarter, while total shipments fell 2.6%.

LTL revenue-per-hundredweight, or yield, improved 10.8% to $13.28 Saia said.

The carrier’s operating ratio, which represents operating expenses as a percentage of revenue, deteriorated to 96.1 from 94.2 in the previous second quarter.

By Transport Topics          

Arkansas Best’s 2Q Income Declines

Arkansas Best Corp. said Wednesday its second-quarter profit fell 17% to $16.2 million, or 64 cents a share, from $19.6 million, or 78 cents, a year ago.

Revenue rose 7.5% to $498.5 million, ABF said in a statement.

Arkansas Best’s largest subsidiary, ABF Freight System, had revenue of $479.5 million, up 6.1% from a year ago.

The ABF unit’s operating income fell to $25.5 million, from $30.5 a year ago.

Arkansas Best Corp. is ranked No. 15 on the Transport Topics 100 listing of U.S. and Canadian for-hire carriers.

By Transport Topics          

Wesley B. Kemp Named ABF President and COO

Thursday July 24, 5:37 pm ET

FORT SMITH, Ark., July 24 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Arkansas Best Corporation (Nasdaq: ABFS - News) today announced that Wesley B. Kemp will become President and Chief Operating Officer of its largest subsidiary, ABF Freight System Inc.®, effective August 1, 2008. Mr. Kemp will assume the duties from Robert A. Davidson, who will continue as President and Chief Executive Officer of Arkansas Best and as Chief Executive Officer of ABF.

Mr. Kemp, who is 62 years old, has held a variety of positions during his 39-year career with ABF and currently serves as Senior Vice President of Operations, with responsibility for all areas of operational execution. He joined ABF as a management trainee in 1969 after graduating from the University of Arkansas with a bachelor's degree in management. From 1985 until 2006, Mr. Kemp was ABF's Vice President of Terminal Operations following his service as an ABF Regional Vice President of Operations based in Bristol, CT. Mr. Kemp has completed the Executive Program at Northwestern University in Advanced Transportation/Logistics Management. He currently serves on the boards of the Mack-Blackwell Transportation Center and the Supply Chain Management Research Center at the University of Arkansas.

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Earnings Preview: Economy weighs on UPS profits

By HARRY R. WEBER - AP Business Writer

ATLANTA -- UPS Inc., the world's largest shipping carrier, reports second-quarter earnings on Tuesday. The following is a summary of key developments and analyst opinion related to the period.

OVERVIEW: Slowing U.S. economic growth and high fuel costs are expected to put a damper on United Parcel Service's results for the April-June quarter.

There should not be too many surprises, since the Atlanta-based company lowered its earnings expectations for the quarter on June 23.

UPS predicted earnings per share for the second quarter, which ended June 30, would be within a range of 83 cents to 88 cents, compared with the 97 cents to $1.04 the company originally anticipated.

UPS is able to pass higher fuel costs on to customers in the form of a fuel surcharge on shipments. However, the surcharge increases have not kept pace with rapidly rising fuel prices. Meanwhile, UPS' business has suffered amid the economic downturn in the U.S. The result has been lower-than-expected domestic package volume and customers making less use of premium air products.

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Malicious Spammers Deliver Fake UPS Invoices

[July 17, 2008]

ATLANTA, GA, July 17 / MARKET WIRE/ -- Malicious spammers have used fake United Parcel Service (UPS) invoices to distribute malware as part of the latest social engineering ploy to fool unsuspecting recipients into downloading malicious components from the Web. The new ploy, used in malicious spam emails coming from the Pushdo botnet, claims to be from UPS and asks recipients to print out a fictitious invoice to claim a package that could not be delivered.

According to security experts from Marshal's TRACE Team, this latest piece of malicious spam incorporates several elements designed to make the message appear authentic and trick recipients into opening an attached executable file.

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Old Dominion Booms as Truckers Bust

Old Dominion Freight Lines (ODFL) gained 20% yesterday for a very good reason.

While other truck haulers are jacking up their prices or simply collapsing under the weight of fuel costs, Old Dominion is actually making a profit. And it’s making a higher profit this year than it was this time last year. How the heck did it manage that?

Old Dominion is a little different than your average freight shipping company. It works with smaller businesses, those that don’t need to send entire fleets across the country to organize their inventory. It bases its prices on the size and weight of whatever a customer needs to ship, more like UPS (UPS) than J.B. Hunt (JBHT).

And it does all of this while still offering quick delivery and enough options to suit any need. And I do mean any need. The number of shipping choices available through Old Dominion’s website is overwhelming for anyone who’s just used to choosing between Priority and First Class.

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