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HOS Rules Eased as Hurricane Florence Approaches

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has relaxed hours-of-service regulations in 11 states and the District of Columbia as Hurricane Florence makes its way to the East Coast.

The administrators at FMCSA’s Southern and Eastern Service Centers declared a state of emergency in Delaware, the District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia on Sept. 10.

Hurricane Florence’s projected path is taking aim at the Carolinas with 130 mph winds and potentially ruinous rains. The Category 4 hurricane is expected to hit on Sept. 13.

“This emergency declaration is needed to address anticipated emergency conditions in the affected states and jurisdictions, creating a need for immediate transportation of supplies, equipment and persons, and provides necessary relief,” FMCSA’s notice states.

Maersk Sees Fuel Bill Soaring by $2 Billion From 2020 Rules

The world’s largest container shipping line said adhering to stricter environmental standards could add at least $2 billion to its annual fuel bill from 2020, one of the clearest examples yet of how vessel owners will be affected by rules to curb sulfur emissions that take effect in 16 months’ time.

High crude prices, tight availability of compliant fuel, and investment in research and development are among issues that will combine to drive up the cost of complying with IMO 2020, said Simon Bergulf, director for regulatory affairs at A.P. Moller-Maersk A/S, the Copenhagen, Denmark-based operator of hundreds of containerships and smaller craft such as tugboats.

“I wouldn’t call it a perfect storm, but it’s close,” Bergulf said, adding that marine fuel suppliers that Maersk is in contact with aren’t concerned about a ship-fuel shortage.

Tesla Semi get test driven by UPS: ‘one smooth ride’, they say

A Tesla Semi prototype is evidently on tour to visit potential customers at the moment since it has been spotted at J.B. Hunt last week and now UPS is taking a look at the electric truck.

The delivery giant’s employees even had the chance to test drive it and they say it’s ‘one smooth ride’.

After we reported that Tesla Semi showed up to J.B. Hunt in Arkansas almost 2,000 miles away from its home base, Tesla CEO Elon Musk said that Tesla Semi made it ‘across the country alone’ with only Supercharger network and an extension cord.

Now it is back on the road and it made it to UPS’ hub in Addison in Illinois, which is about 600 miles north from J.B. Hunt in Arkansas.

UPS is one of Tesla Semi’ largest reservation holders with 125 electric trucks on order and that’s apparently enough to make UPS employees eligible for test rides in a prototype.

US, Mexico Agree on New Trade Deal

President Donald Trump said the U.S. is pursuing a new trade accord with Mexico to replace the North American Free Trade Agreement and called on Canada to join the deal soon or risk being left out.

Trump announced the agreement with Mexico in a hastily arranged Oval Office event Aug. 27 with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto joining by conference call. Pena Nieto said he is “quite hopeful” Canada would soon be incorporated in the revised agreement, while Trump said that remains to be seen but that he wanted those negotiations to begin quickly.

Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland is leaving a trip in Europe early to travel to Washington for NAFTA talks on Aug. 28, spokesman Adam Austen said Aug. 27. Canada and the U.S. are still at odds over some key issues.

The U.S. and Mexico agreed to increase regional automotive content to 75% from the current 62.5% in NAFTA, with 40% to 45% of production by workers earning at least $16 an hour, the U.S. Trade Representative’s office said in an e-mailed statement. They agreed to review the deal after six years, softening a demand by the U.S. for a clause to kill the pact after five years unless it’s renewed by all parties. Duty-free access for agricultural products will remain in place, USTR said.

The S&P 500 Index closed just short of 2,900 and the Nasdaq Composite Index topped 8,000 for the first time. Shares of carmakers and parts producers in the equity benchmark surged more than 3.5%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose above 26,000 for the first since February. The peso rallied, and Canada’s dollar strengthened.

After 60 Years, I-95 Is Complete

Across the United States, public infrastructure is crumbling because of legislative gridlock and chronic underfunding. Roads are overcrowded, bridges are well past their expiration date and transit systems regularly face unprecedented delays. But there will be one thing to celebrate as you seethe in beach traffic this weekend—a small, strange gap in I-95 is being filled.

Come September, one of the most audacious public infrastructure projects in U.S. history will be completed after more than six decades of work. Interstate 95 was the crown jewel of the American highway system championed by President Dwight Eisenhower, and yet the plan for an artery stretching the length of the East Coast almost didn’t happen—because of local lawmakers and land-owners in Mercer County, N.J.

Near the Pennsylvania border, drivers have long been forced off the interstate and onto other roadways, only to join back 8 miles away. Transportation officials and civil engineers spent more than two decades and $425 million to eliminate this detour off I-95, the most traveled highway in America, spanning 1,900 miles from Miami to Maine.

The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission, which oversees the I-95 Interchange Project, said the new infrastructure—which includes the creation of flyover ramps, toll plaza facilities, environmental mitigation sites, intersections, six overhead bridges, widened highways and new connections to the New Jersey and Pennsylvania turnpikes—will be open to the public by Sept. 24.

European benzene spot prices rangebound despite bullish oil

London — European benzene spot prices have been rangebound this week, failing to react to a significant rise in the oil complex

The 5-30 day forward benzene spot price was last assessed Thursday at $870.50/mt CIF ARA, and has been trending in the range $867-$870.50/mt this week, seeing minimal changes.

This is in spite of front month ICE Brent crude price reaching $74.73/b on Thursday, up from $71.83/b last Friday.

Prices for naphtha have also come up in line with crude, with the CIF NWE naphtha price assessed Thursday at $644.75/mt, up from $621.75/mt last Friday.

Benzene demand has been uninspiring in Europe, especially for prompt dates.

An ongoing production issue at LyondellBasell and Covestro’s propylene oxide/styrene monomer facility in Maasvlakte, the Netherlands continued to weigh on prompt demand.

Container Farms: A New Type of Agriculture

Innovators within the produce industry are breaking the boundaries of food production — by growing crops not in fields, but in recycled shipping containers.

This modern twist on farming is designed to bypass some of the challenges and restrictions that farmers traditionally have faced, such as extreme weather, pests and limited growing seasons.

By overcoming these limitations, farming operations are capable of producing more food and growing certain crops in regions that otherwise would have had to import them.

By growing this food locally, suppliers are able to cut out the long travel distances often necessary to transport these foods to certain markets.

According to Jeff Moore, vice president of sales at produce supplier Tom Lange Co., shorter travel distances provide numerous benefits, such as fresher product, reduced transportation costs, less waste and fewer empty shelves at markets.

Diesel Drops 1¢ to $3.207 Per Gallon

The U.S. average retail price of diesel fell last week by 1 cent to $3.207 a gallon.

Still, the trucking industry’s main fuel remains 61.1 cents per gallon more expensive than it did a year ago, when it was $2.596 a gallon, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s weekly price summary.

Georgia’s New Inland Port Terminal Opens for Business

The Georgia Ports Authority celebrated the official opening of the Appalachian Regional Port in northwest Georgia on Aug. 22.

Gov. Nathan Deal, state officials and more than 350 business and civic leaders attended the inland port event, GPA officials said.

Located in Murray County, the facility will provide logistics solutions for customers in a four-state region and remove an estimated 50,000 trucks and 15 million truck miles from local highways every year, GPA officials said.

“The ARP is part of our Network Georgia initiative that brings services from the coast to communities around the state,” GPA Executive Director Griff Lynch said. “The new inland terminal will provide the same superior quality services our customers have come to rely on: congestion-free, easy access, expedited handling and reliability.”

Volvo May Be About to Surprise Its Investors, But in a Good Way

The world’s second-biggest maker of trucks is about to increase its market value by roughly a fifth, if analyst estimates are to be believed.

Volvo AB, which can hardly keep up with orders, will probably enjoy rising demand for trucks through 2019, according to Graham Phillips, an analyst at Jefferies Group LLC. He says fears that Volvo is vulnerable to swings in the economic cycle are now playing too big a role in steering the share price.

The average of analyst estimates provided to Bloomberg shows that Volvo’s shares should gain 20.6% over the next 12 months. That’s the second-best return potential of all companies traded on the benchmark OMX Stockholm Index. It’s also roughly double Volvo’s historical average over the past decade.

Further to Go

“As long as the truck and construction-equipment markets remain stable to up, which is what we expect, we think there is room for further improvement,” Phillips said by phone. “The problem is that people have generally expected the markets, mainly the truck markets, to turn down again.”