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To: bill meehan who wrote (59759)	9/1/1999 12:55:00 PM
From: Cynic 2005	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 86076

IN case you missed this article, here is some good news on inflation front! -g- --------------------- September 1, 1999 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Less-Than-Truckload Truckers Raise Rates More Than 5% at Peak Period By DANIEL MACHALABA Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL Moving goods by truck is about to get more expensive. Some of the nation's largest truck companies are boosting rates more than 5% at a time when shipping moves into the busiest period of the year and some truck companies are leaving the business. The rate increase affects truckers in the $25-billion-a-year less-than-truckload industry, which consolidates small shipments into trailer loads. Such truck companies represent an important part of the distribution network for a wide array of customers ranging from retailers to light manufacturers. Yellow Freight System, a subsidiary of Yellow Corp., of Overland Park, Kan., and Consolidated Freightways Corp., based in Menlo Park, Calif., said they are implementing 5.5% general rate increases effective Wednesday Roadway Express Inc., based in Akron, Ohio, said it is raising rates by 5.2% effective Sept. 12. In addition to such national carriers, many regional truckers are also increasing their rates by similar amounts. The rate increases apply to about 50% of less-than-truckload business and are likely to serve as a guide for shipments handled under yearly contracts when they are up for renegotiation. The latest round of increases follows fuel surcharges that many truckers implemented in July. The surcharges range from 0.5% to 1%. Analysts said the latest rate increases represent a departure from past practices in that they are earlier and stand a better chance of remaining firm. Typically, less-than-truckload rate increases have been announced toward the end of the calendar year and became effective Jan. 1, during a slack period in shipping. Then the carriers frequently turned around and offered discounts on the new higher rates. But this time, the companies are implementing increases just ahead of the peak shipping season when rate increases are more likely to be accepted. What's more, major truckers are becoming more sophisticated in how they price their services. Some less-than-truckload carriers, including Preston Trucking Inc., of Preston, Md., have recently closed their doors, reducing competition that had driven down rates in the past. "Customers had a pretty good deal playing one off against the other," said Anthony Gallo, an analyst at Deutsche Banc Alex. Brown in Baltimore. "But all that is changing." Less-than-truckload carriers said they are responding to demands from customers for faster, guaranteed deliveries and that meeting such requirements is raising truckers' costs. "We're becoming less shy about trying to get fair value for what we provide," Yellow spokesman Roger Dick said. But some customers are questioning the increases, said Debra Phillips, executive director of the National Small Shipments Traffic Conference, a Washington D.C., group that represents about 400 less-than-truckload and small-package shippers. "It's too much too fast," she said. "They wonder why the truckers need such significant rate increases."