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On Wednesday, May 28, 2008 Lana Batts had the opportunity to participate in a panel discussion sponsored by Stifel Nicolaus on the "Impact of Fuel Prices on Supply Chains." Lana was joined by Dr. "Chip" White of Georgia Tech, Tom Jones of Ryder Systems, and Terry Matthews of J.B. Hunt. Download the pdf from the panel discussion to read key points on how rapidly rising fuel prices are changing distribution patterns. (May 14, 2008) |
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Transport Capital Partners announced the acquisition of James Brown Contracting, Inc by Navigation Capital Partners in a press release on May 14, 2008. Transport Capital Partners assisted in the sale of the dedicated freight carrier to the Atlanta based Equity Company. With 500 trucks and more than 3,000 trailers, Brown is the leading dedicated freight transportation provider to the paper and packaging industry. (May 14, 2008) |
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Transport Topics quoted Lana Batts on the reported increase in empty miles in the trucking industry. She noted that as long haul carriers move to more regional markets, the number of empty miles increase, the number of turns increase, and dwell times increase in significance. She noted that "you can no longer measure productivity in miles, you also need to measure it in hours". (May 12, 2008) |
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Sirius Radio featured Lana Batts on a half hour program on the opportunities for women in trucking. She noted that in addition to an increasing number of women truck drivers, women were also becoming a force in dispatch and sales. (May 9, 2008) |
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Transport Topics quoted Lana Batts in a lead article on rising fuel costs, entitled "Fleets Seek Fuel Savings." She noted that that the difference between the miles that carriers actually consume fuel is quite different from what is published in the commercial miles guides. (April 14, 2008) |
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DC Velocity, a leading publication for Distribution Management, published a letter to the editor in its April issue from Lana Batts concerning raising fuel prices. Lana strongly objected to an editorial which claimed that carriers were making money off their fuel surcharges. She noted that carriers only cover about 75 to 80 percent of their gallons with their surcharges because of (1) the differences in billed miles versus actual; (2) empty and out of route miles, (3) refrigeration unit fuels, (4) congestion, and (5) idling. (April 2008) |
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Transport Topics quoted Lana Batts in two separate articles
on consolidations in the truckload industry, noting in 2008, "There will be some
mergers and acquisitions with good companies being bought, but bad ones will just
drop out." (November 26, 2007) |
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Truckinginfo.com published
an opinion hotline article written by Lana Batts entitled, "What's Really Normal."
In it she noted that it's not the strongest or the most intelligent that survive
in turbulent times, but the most responsive to change. A significant part of being
responsive to change to fully understanding what activities create costs and assigning
them to the right function. For example, a new truck that has two or three different
drivers a year can increase maintenance costs 2—3 cents more over a truck
with only one driver. Assigning those extra costs to maintenance, rather than retention,
only further hides the true cost of driver turnover. (November 2007) |
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Lana Batts spoke at the annual meeting of the Nebraska Motor Carriers Association
in Lincoln, NE on the shifting sands of the trucking industry. She noted that many
new realities faced the trucking industry that needed to be factored into the operations
of any company, including high fuel prices a fact of life, driver shortages are
not going to go away, and that congestion will continue to impact the ability of
a carrier to guarantee on-time deliveries. (October 9, 2007) |
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Lana Batts spoke at the PeopleNet Users Conference on "What the Future Holds
for Trucking," in Hilton Head, SC. She addressed certain factors that are now
a given, such as high, volatile fuel prices, chronic driver retention issues, and
highway congestion. She also pointed out positive factors affecting the industry
such as increased freight volumes, improved trucks, and new markets. (August
13, 2007) |
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Transport Topics quoted Richard Mikes in the 2007 "Top
100 Carriers... Private Equity Reshapes Trucking." Mikes was quoted as saying:
"Private equity investors are providing an alternative for trucking companies
looking to sell their business. It has given trucking more liquidity. The private
equity investor is driven by financial parameters." He also addressed trucking
owners' uses of debt after the past cycle. (July 23, 2007) |
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Richard Mikes spoke at the CSX Intermodal Conference in Memphis, discussing the
strategic outlook for trucking and intermodal movements. He addressed current regulation,
the impact of technology, trucking profitability, cyclical and seasonal impact,
rate, tonnage growth and road congestion. The growth of intermodalism will continue
in the short and long term as shippers and carriers search for new strategies, she
forecast. (March 20, 2007) |
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Richard Mikes spoke at the annual Navistar Financial Corporation meeting in San
Antonio on purchasing and financing decisions. Her presentation included life cycle
economics, financing trends, carrier decision methods, operational strategies, and
technology trends. She discussed the needs and expectations of carriers for equipment
financing over the long term with suppliers. (March 7, 2007) |
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Lana Batts spoke at the American Trucking Association's annual meeting in Dallas,
Texas. She discussed recent merger and acquisition activities in the trucking industry,
as well as the new inflow of money from private equity companies. She was also quoted
in the November 6, 2006, Transport Topics about the presentation.October
30, 2006 |
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Lana Batts spoke at the National Accounting & Finance Council's annual meeting
in Washington, DC. She discussed what buyers and sellers are looking for in an acquisition.
(September 25, 2006) |
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Richard Mikes spoke to the Ohio Trucking Association about "Establishing the
Value of a Carrier." He discussed family succession and estate plans, private
carriers as a reflection of publicly traded carriers, and what drives valuation
parameters along with equipment dynamics. (September 19, 2006) |
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Steven Dutro spoke at the Transportation Lawyers Association convention as part
of a seminar called "Solving the Insolvency Conundrum: Dealing with Businesses on
the Edge of Financial Abyss." The topic covered strategies for protection from customers
in financial distress as well as strategies to protect trucking companies in financial
distress. (May 17, 2006) |
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Richard Mikes addressed the Automotive Market Research Council in Marco Island,
Florida. His focus was on the history of the trucking industry and future implications
of current trends in technology on vehicle design and carrier operations.
(May 3, 2006) |
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Transport Topics published an editorial opinion entitled
"Looking for Liquidity in 2006" co-authored by Richard Mikes and Lana
Batts. The piece discussed the reasons why certain executives are selling their
companies and what types of carriers buyers are seeking. (May 1, 2006) |
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Lana Batts gave the keynote address before the Annual Landstar Logistics Carriers
Conference in Dallas, TX. She discussed "Change, Uncertainty and Profits: How
to Thrive in Logistics." (February 25, 2006) |
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James Schnoes and Richard Mikes spoke before the Arizona Trucking Association in
Tucson, Arizona. The title of the speech was "Life Cycle Costing: Key to Better
Asset Management." (September 22, 2005) |
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Lana Batts spoke before the Unipro Food Service's Operations Conference in Las Vegas,
Nevada. Her speech was entitled "How to Thrive in Uncertain Times."
(September 22, 2005) |
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Lana Batts was the Keynote speaker for the PeopleNet Communications Annual Users
Conference. The title of her speech was "Change, Uncertainty and Profits: How
to Thrive in the Trucking Industry." (August 16, 2005) |
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James Schnoes and Miller Welborn were speakers at the Commercial Carrier University,
held in conjunction with the Texas Motor Truck Association's annual meeting in Austin,
TX. The topic of their presentation was the value of education and training and
how to better utilize the resources of Commercial Carrier University. (July
27, 2005) |
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Transport Topics quoted Richard Mikes and Lana Batts in an article
entitled "Private Equity Funds Increase as Source of Transport Capital."
They noted that the use of equity capital by trucking companies is very unique to
each specific circumstance. (June 27, 2005) |
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Gailyn Larsen participated in a panel at the Industrial Property Summit, sponsored
by Cushman & Wakefield and held in Chicago, IL. In his remarks, entitled "Fine
Tuning the Supply Chain," Larsen discussed the impact that service hour regulations
have on the location of facilities and the need for increased warehouse doors to
minimize the truck driver's limited time at shipping and receiving facilities.
(May 17, 2005) |
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Richard Mikes participated on a panel at the Transportation Intermediaries Association's
annual meeting in Miami, FL. Mikes commented on the "perfect storm," which
is creating the environment for increased merger and acquisition activity in 2005.
(April 1, 2005) |
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Lana Batts participated in a panel at the Mid-America Truck Show, sponsored by Newport
Communications and held in Louisville, KY. She spoke about the factors in 2005 that
are creating a climate for increased merger and acquisition activity. (March
30, 2005) |
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Lana Batts gave the keynote address before the Landstar Logistics Carrier Conference,
Dallas, Texas. Topic: "The State of the Trucking Industry."
(February 26, 2005) |
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Lana Batts was quoted extensively about the truck driver shortage throughout the
Gannett News Service. She said the crisis had been building since the early 1990's
and has resulted in "too few drivers, operating too few tractors, pulling too
few trailers." (February 19, 2005) |
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Lana Batts was quoted in Traffic World about the need to pay drivers more.
In the article entitled "Double the Money," she said that "the truth
is we can't pay them enough to overcome the crummy lifestyle." (January
17, 2005) |
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Lana Batts was extensively quoted in a Transport Topics article entitled,
"TRB Panel Targets Pay to Woo More Drivers." (January 17, 2005) |
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Lana Batts participated in a panel discussion at the National Academy of Science's
Transportation Research Board, 84th Annual Meeting, Washington, DC. Topic:
"The Truck Driver Shortage". (January 13, 2005) |
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Lana Batts was quoted extensively in Heavy Duty Trucking's article about
the truckload industry 25 years after deregulation. She also contributed an article
on the history of the Truckload Carriers Association, where she was president from
1994-2000. (January 2005) |
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Steven Dutro was interviewed for a Transport Topics story called "Fleets
Use Varied Strategies to Boost Value to Investors." Dutro noted, "Clearly,
what some people call the 'capital window' is open. Capital is available from a
variety of sources for the trucking industry." (January 10, 2005) |
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Lana Batts was quoted in Transport Topics for a story concerning "On Board
Electronic Recorders". She noted that many of the objections to electronic onboard
recording of drivers' logs are no longer appropriate as prices have come down, reliability
has gone up, and driver acceptance is high. (December 21, 2004) |
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Lana Batts gave a speech at Americas Commercial Transportation Research's 30th Commercial Vehicle Seminar, Columbus, IN.
Topic: "Truckload Carriers for Sale: A Distress Situation or Window
of Opportunity?" (October 28, 2004) |
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Lana Batts gave a speech at Landstar Logistics' Annual Carrier Conference, Chicago,
IL. Topic: "The Role of Logistics When Truck Capacity is Tight."
(July 16, 2004) |
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Lana Batts gave a speech at TransCore's Annual Customer Appreciation Conference,
Phoenix, AZ. Topic: "What Do Carriers Want When There is Too Much
Freight Chasing Too Few Trailers?" (May 16, 2004) |
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Gailyn Larsen was quoted by the Commercial Carrier Journal in its article,
"Merging Byte by Byte." Larsen said, "Many potential buyers and sellers
are looking at deals more favorably than in recent years when so many carriers were
upside down on their equipment valuations. The biggest impediment to more deals
is uncertainty over the effects of the hours-of-service regulations. But beyond
that, the economic environment for consolidation is positive." (February
2004) |
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Lana Batts gave a seminar at TMI-Multimedia's 3rd Annual Recruitment & Retention
Conference, Nashville, TN. Topic: "Accident Profiling."
(January 28, 2004) |
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James Schnoes was quoted in Fleet Owner magazine regarding the favorable
relative impact of team operations overall and specifically on carrier valuation,
given the emerging changes in hours of service regulations. He said, "A small
to mid-sized carrier that offers team service is going to be much more attractive
to sell under the new rules, because team service is a great way for fleets to hedge
their bets in terms of minimizing the impact of the new HOS regulations. (December
10, 2003) |
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Lana Batts was the moderator of a panel at the American Trucking Association's Annual
Meeting, San Antonio, TX. Topic: "Achieving Business Process Improvements."
(October 20, 2003) |
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Lana Batts was the keynote speaker at the Toledo Traffic Club, Toledo,
OH. Topic: "Transportation of the Last 100 Years and What Will Happen
in the Next Century."(September 11, 2003) |
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Lana Batts gave the keynote address at the PeopleNet User Group Meeting,
Minneapolis, MN. Topic: "Making Technology Work for You."
(July 16, 2003) |
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Lana Batts gave a seminar at TransCore, Portland, OR. Topic: "Load
Exchange Customers." (June 11, 2003) |
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Transport Topics published an opinion piece written by Lana Batts entitled,
"Don't Throw that Paper Away Just Yet." (Spring 2003) |
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Richard Mikes spoke at Americas Commercial Transportation Research on the topic "Trends in the U.S. Truck
Leasing Industry." (Spring 2003) |
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At the annual meeting in Charlotte, NC, Lana Batts received the ATA Safety
& Loss Prevention Management Council Choice Award in appreciation for her contribution
to the trucking industry for the last three decades. (March 31, 2003) |