Feb
19
Freightliner to Lay off 1,250 Employees in North Carolina
Freightliner employees were told Monday that the company is planning to lay off 1,250 employees from the Mount Holly and Cleveland, NC locations by the end of this week. Employees who received the news expected February 19th to be their last day, but Freightliner has offered to pay them through April. Freightliner announced at a town hall meeting that 700 cuts would be made at the Mount Holly locations and another 550 in Cleveland. The layoffs come after several weeks of reports of a weak stock market and uncertain economic climate. Economists are anticipating a recession within the next 18 month and it can be assumed companies such as Freightliner are bracing for the downturn. Read more…
Intermodal Shipping On the Rise
After months of a decrease in intermodal shipping, this sector has seen a rise in shipments over two consecutive weeks. By the end of the week of February 13, North American intermodal had seen a 10% gain for the second week in a row. Total U.S. carloads amounted to almost 245,000 which was a 15% decrease compared to the same week in 2015. Contrary to this, overall volume was over 260,000 containers, which was 10.4% up from this time last year. Total rail volume for the first six weeks of 2016 was over 3.9M carloads and intermodal units, a 5.3% decrease from last year. Read more…
Ohio the First State to Train Truckers on Human Trafficking
Due to a high ranking for human trafficking, Ohio has become the first state to train truckers to recognize human trafficking and how to help. A major city in Ohio has been ranked 4th in the country for human trafficking and the state has been ranked 5th for overall trafficking cases. Oftentimes, the victims are forced to solicit sex at trucks stops and in an attempt to curb human trafficking, the state will be training truckers how to spot a victim of trafficking. Officials are hoping that by teaching truckers to recognize three major signs, force, fraud and coercion, they can help send victims home to their families. Read more…