Transport Topics quoted Lana Batts on the growing cash crunch. She noted that shippers are extending the time the pay carriers. The problem is made worse because carriers have to pay their fuel costs on a daily basis, but are being paid by the shipper until 45 days later. She noted that even if a carrier receives 100% fuel surcharges from 100% of its customers, it is still about 20% in recovering its increased fuel costs because of billed versus actual miles, out of route miles, empty miles, and idling.
September 19, 2008 -
Carriers Feeling the Pinch
July 25, 2008 -
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.
May 28, 2008 -
Impact of Fuel Prices on Supply Chains
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 12, 2008 -
“Empty Miles” on the Rise
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 9, 2008 -
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.
April 14, 2008 -
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.
April 1, 2008 -
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.
November 26, 2007 -
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.”
November 1, 2007 -
Batts: Adaptability is Key
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.
October 9, 2007 -
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.
