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Batts: Financial Environment Was the “Perfect Storm”

The Chattanooga Free Press quoted Lana Batts. “You had the most perfect storm that could have ever been created. It has just been a compounding over and over and over again,” said Lana Batts, former president of the Truckload Carriers Association and managing partner with Transport Capitol Partners, a mergers and acquisitions company.

Insights from the Refrigerated Truckload Conference

Transport Capital Partners attended the Truckload Carriers Association’s annual Refrigerated Division Conference in Monterey, CA in early July. Listening to several presentations, participating in workshops, and visiting with attendees provided diverse insight into direction of the refrigerated industry. View the full article on TCP’s observations of this conference.

Fuel Prices Climb Higher

Transport Capital Partners released an analysis and results of their most recent fuel survey. View the full article with results.

More Opportunities for Women in Trucking

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.

Rising Fuel Costs Present a Challenge

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.

Editorial: Fuel Surcharges Not a Significant Source of Income

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.

How Private Equity Affects Trucking Industry

TruckerToTrucker.com quoted Richard Mikes in an article, “Is Private Equity Helping or Hurting Trucking?” Read the full article here.

Mergers, Acquisitions Bound to Rise

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.”

Batts Addresses Nebraska Motor Carriers Association

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.

Batts Speaks at PeopleNet Users Conference

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.