Small biz optimism surges

According to American Trucker Jan 10, 2017

Small business optimism rocketed to its highest level since 2004, with a stratospheric 38-point jump in the number of owners who expect better business conditions, according to the monthly National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) Index of Small Business Optimism.

After six consecutive months of improvement, the number of trucking jobs closed out 2016 with a new record high total, according to the U.S. Dept. of Labor report issued Friday.

The Truckload Carriers Association (TCA) and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund (VVMF) have announced they will continue their partnership in 2017 to bring "The Wall That Heals" to communities across America.  Halvor has been selected to host the Memorial Wall later this year from July 20th to July 23rd in Superior, WI.

Bryan Shafer from Schneider was here today to talk about the many job opportunities for our students at Schneider. We have had about 30 students go to Schneider in 2016.  If you have any questions about all of the options at Schneider, here is Bryan's contact information:

Bryan Schafer

Driver Field Recruiting Mgr.

11955 Douglas Avenue

Des Moines, IA 50323

Office: 800-558-1159

Cell: 515-344-9663

The American Trucking Associations (ATA) said its for-hire truck tonnage index jumped 8.2% in November after dropping 0.3% in October.

Year-to-date, compared with the same period in 2015, tonnage is up 2.8%, the trade group noted.

Bob Costello, ATA’s chief economist, noted in a statement that 2016 “has been an interesting year” with monthly gains and decreases in truck tonnage “as large as I can remember,” which he said suggests freight seasonality is “different” this year.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) reports that the controlled substances random testing rate for regulated motor carriers will remain at 25% for calendar year 2017.  

FMCSA regulations require that truck and bus companies that employ commercial driver’s licensed (CDL) drivers conduct random drug and alcohol tests upon these individuals at a nationally prescribed percentage, which is informed by the results of an annual survey.