For decades, shoppers have descended on brick-and-mortar retailers the day after Thanksgiving, eager to scoop up some of the year's best deals. In more recent years, Cyber Monday was added to lengthen the shopping window. Then came Amazon's Prime Day. Then came other online sales days from retailers like Target and Walmart.

On October 24th, the Digital LTL Council of the National Motor Freight Traffic Association (NMFTA) announced that it had established a new application programming interface (API) standard for electronic bills of lading (eBOL). This marks the first time in the industry’s history that less-than-truckload has had a standard format for electronically sharing these vital and ubiquitous documents.

Hiring military veterans has proven time and time again to be a win-win situation for both transportation companies and the veterans themselves. For our returning servicemen and women, our industry provides a good job, a stable career path, and an opportunity to utilize much of the skills and training gained during the course of military duty.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will begin accepting food facility registration renewals on Oct. 1, 2022, and continue through the end of the calendar year.

The U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has posted notice of an increase in user fees, effective October 1, 2022. According to the agency, this is an effort to help offset rising inflation in the country. Importers will see an increase in their U.S. Customs user fees—minimum and maximum Merchandise Processing Fees (MPF).

Trucking is an indispensable part of the US economy, accounting for roughly 70% of all goods transported nationwide. Truck driving is also the most common job in roughly 28 of the country’s 50 states. 

Yet every time a truck driver gets behind the wheel, they face risks. The occupation ranks among the most dangerous in America, with upwards of 766 fatal injuries annually. Although 80% of these accidents are caused by cars and other passenger vehicles, accidents can also be caused by any number of factors – such as careless handling of the truck, driver fatigue, and equipment failure.

UPDATE (Nov 22, 2022): With recent announcements from several railroad unions on Nov 21 about a failure to come to an agreement on work contract updates, the industry is on watch once again for a potential strike by rail workers as early as December 9, 2022. Averitt will continue to monitor the discussions and updates in order to provide continuity of professional service to our customers as this situation continues to develop.

For all the variables of international commerce – with its endless combinations of commodities, origins, and destinations – there are still some things all shippers have in common: a desire to streamline the supply chain and reduce freight costs.