One of the main problems with biofuels in general is- space. Although renewable, the space needed for example to make ethanol out of corn is tremendous. The production alone burdens the food supply, and the economy as a whole.

There is not as much of a space problem with algae fuel. It grows in a small area, and it could be done indoors. Available space is a huge obstacle with other biofuels. But algae fuel can be made in a building, built tall. In other words, space is not a problem.

Cost is still a problem though. But the US Navy has done a ton of research and development with algae fuel, and it is showing to be highly favorable to the future of biofuels.

The Navy is mixing algae fuel with jet-fuel:

“For the upcoming static and flight tests, the biofuels will be mixed in a 50-50 blend with conventional petroleum-derived jet fuel to provide the necessary specification properties. Biofuels are not as dense as conventional jet fuel, have less lubricating ability and contain no aromatic compounds, a group of chemical compounds able to penetrate the rubberlike materials that make up gaskets and seals.”

See Fuels Team Plans Super Hornet Biofuels Flight Test.

Big-Time investors are jumping on algae fuel:

Along with the US Military, Bill Gates, and Exxon-Mobil are also heavily invested in algae fuel. Nature, International Weekly Journal of Science calls it the Gold Rush for Algae, and lists many of the huge corporate investors. Over one-billion-dollars has been invested in algae fuels since 2007. I’d call that validation.

Unlike crude, algae fuel burns clean:

“Algae fuel is currently the most promising of all first or second generation biofuels. Experts are still understandably cautious; however, as there are still hurdles to overcome before algae fuel can compete economically with crude oil and other fossil fuels. Finding strains of algae that produce reliably high yields, avoiding contamination, developing cost-effective growth chambers, and efficiently harvesting oil from the cells are the main hurdles.”

That, according to Justin Arntd at Penn State, in a piece entitled, Crude Oil vs Algae Fuel.

We all know about the political ramifications when it comes to biofuels in general. While the US government spends a fortune on clean-air, this time they just might hit pay dirt.

Economic woes have, at times, given rise to driver shortages. These shortages have made it more difficult and often more expensive for a range of different types of companies to ship materials. For some businesses, the difficulties and cost connected to these driver shortages just didn’t make sense from a business or financial standpoint. In order to combat the situation, many companies have switched to the “dedicated fleet” model:

“Retailers and grocery stores are among companies increasingly using dedicated-fleet services as a shortage of drivers constrains U.S. trucking capacity while the economy heals. “ (from Business Week)
In some cases, the cost of a dedicated fleet is higher. However, it guarantees companies the capacity they need when they need it, which means they can effectively reach more customers in a timely manner. In short, they can handle the increased business when it comes their way.

These dedicated fleets have helped a number of retailers deal with increased sales as the economy does its best to rebound. Companies were seeing higher order numbers and shorter lead times, and they realized that a dedicated fleet would save them time and money in the long run. It also helped many companies streamline the logistical aspects of the shipping process.

More Drivers Hired

The best result of the shift to dedicated fleets among a number of retailers may be increased numbers of hired drivers. As orders increase and lead times shrink, those dedicated fleets need to grow, and they can’t grow if there aren’t enough drivers on hand.
Of course, many of these companies are not truly equipped to handle all aspects of shipping on their own. They simply don’t have the infrastructure in place to make it feasible or affordable. However, a number of trucking companies are there to provide dedicated fleets to a specific client. While the retailer might not be running their own shipping, they know that they have a well-established trucking company and a fleet of their own ready to do the job.

The hope is that as retail sales increase, other industries will start to rebound, as well. This could continue to increase the need for drivers and the need for dedicated fleets to handle growing trucking needs. As it stands now, the trucking business has dealt with the lagging economy just as many other businesses have. However, the ability to adapt to the current needs of the market has helped many in the trucking business get in on the ground floor as certain sectors start to see a bit of an economic turnaround.

*****BIO****
Andrew Miller is an experienced Social Media expert and Author. He has worked in marketing for over a decade and finds his passion in bringing concepts to life for the world to enjoy. He is also an avid blogger and currently working on a book with his wife about social entrepreneurship. He is a true Socialpreneur and finds that his goal in life is to be an agent for positive social change through both his writing and business endeavors.
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In fact, here’s the entire webpage they call US Trends:

In 2008, U.S. freight gateways handled more than $3.4 trillion (in current dollars) of international merchandise trade. From 2007 to 2008, merchandise exports rose 12 percent, and imports rose 7 percent. Since 1990, the leading U.S. freight gateways have handled increasing volumes of freight as the movement of traded goods to and from the United States has expanded.

From 1990 to 2008, the value of U.S. international merchandise trade grew from $889 billion to $3.4 trillion, increasing at an average annual rate of 8 percent. In infl ation-adjusted terms (using chained 2000 dollars), this trade grew about 7 percent per year, from $837 billion to more than $2.6 trillion. During this period, the growth in merchandise trade spurred the development of marine, air-cargo, and border-crossing facilities to connect domestic U.S. origins and destinations to markets abroad.

That’s it- an entire federal department, whose responsibility it is to put out transportation statistics- all they have is two paragraphs. And they misspelled inflation.

I want that job. It must be nice, sitting around having coffee, and getting paid so well. I took a look around their site, and guess what (again)? They’re hiring! Well, sort of- they’re looking for interns. Here’s a brief job description:

The Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS), located at the U.S. Department of Transportation headquarters, has internship positions available for graduate students in transportation–related programs of study in the Washington, DC region. BTS generates published reports and web-based information to inform the nation’s transportation decision-makers, planners, researchers, the media, and the public.

After reading that, one thing is clear- not only do they not do their job, they have interns do it for them. I can only imagine what those interns really do.

It’s a good thing for us that there are some real researchers out there that do this work- BizJournals is a good place to start.

Here’s the real info I was looking for on the Freight Transportation Services Index, although it’s a bit outdated (January 2010-December 2011), according to the BTS.

The blue line is 2010, and the red line is 2011. As you can see, not a lot has changed, although freight is up just a tad from 2010 to 2011. We can only guess what has happened in 2012 so far. In fact, I wonder if we can even believe this chart. Look at where 2010 ends, and compare that to where 2011 begins. It doesn’t exactly match up, does it?

Oh well, I guess I should be looking elsewhere.

**********

This article was written by Ken Skaggs, writer, educator, entrepreneur, musician, web designer, and web marketer (in other words, truck driver.)

All freight quotes are not equal. For one thing, you don’t want to call a long-distance truckload shipper to move one pallet, or visa-versa. That’s why we recommend UShip.com. They automatically find the right shipping service for your individual need- and their pricing strategy is the most competitive in the business. If you have never watched Shipping Wars on A&E, take it from me (I’m a 30-year veteran trucker and trucking company owner) the way they auction freight to their network simply can’t be beat. You simply will not find a better rate.

You are under no obligation to purchase anything. This is a free service and fast too! You owe it to yourself to shop around for the best rate, from the best carrier. Don’t settle for less.

BTS, a part of the Research and Innovative Technology Administration, reported that the Freight TSI has risen 5.7 percent over the last 17 months, starting in June 2009, after declining 15.3 percent in the previous 10 months beginning in August 2008.


The index has increased in 13 of the last 17 months (Table 2).  Through the first 10 months of 2010, however, the index declined 0.7 percent (Table 3). For additional historic data, go to http://www.bts.gov/xml/tsi/src/index.xml.

The Freight TSI measures the month-to-month changes in freight shipments in ton-miles, which are then combined into one index. The index measures the output of the for-hire freight transportation industry and consists of data from for-hire trucking, rail, inland waterways, pipelines and air freight.

The October Freight TSI of 98.9 is a 5.7 percent increase from the recent low of 93.5 reached in May 2009. In May 2009, the index was at its lowest level since June 1997. The October Freight TSI is down 12.4 percent from its historic peak of 112.9 reached in May 2006.

Although the index rose 3.2 percent from October 2009 to October 2010, it remains below the level of every other October since 2001 when it was 98.7 (Table 4). January 2010 was the first month since July 2008 in which the Freight TSI exceeded the level of the same month of the previous year. The index has exceeded the previous year’s level every month since January but still remains below the level of recent earlier years.

The freight index is down 10.1 percent in the five years from October 2005 and up 0.1 percent in the 10 years from October 2000 despite recent declines (Table 5).

The TSI is a seasonally adjusted index that measures changes from the monthly average of the base year of 2000. It includes historic data from 1990 to the present. Release of the November index is scheduled for Jan. 12.


For a video explanation of the TSI, see Overview of the Transportation Services Index.  A BTS report explaining the TSI, Transportation Services Index and the Economy, is available for download.

If you are a trucking company that’s tired of hauling cheap freight- just don’t do it. I know you can’t afford to sit still, but at the same time, what good is breaking even and tearing up your truck for nothing?


There is no general rate for heavy hauling. Permits are expensive and escorts are too. Everything is relative. You can ship a heavy load for anywhere from $5.00 a mile to $50.00 a mile. There are really too many variables to give you a basic rule of thumb here, but I will try.

When I was doing heavy haul (2006 to 2010) my average load paid about $4 a mile. These were mostly loads that may have been 10-feet wide, and that was their only over-dimension. When it required another axle (heavy loads up to 100,000 pounds) it usually paid a little more- about $5 a mile. If it required escorts, like I said before, you have to add in all the costs and it varies a lot. escorts not only cost money, they cost time, and we all know time is money too.

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The freight market is constantly changing. It depends not only on supply-and-demand, but also the location of the shipment and its destination, the time of year, and a lot of other variables.