������ý

Daseke Inc. on April 16 continued its acquisition activity, announcing it will purchase Aveda Transportation and Energy Services, a large North American oil rig moving company based in Calgary, Alberta. The deal is expected to close in June.

April is Distracted Driving Awareness month, and several new studies show the problem is getting worse.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services reported first-quarter 2018 net earnings of $118.1 million, or $1.07 a share, up from $102.7 million, or 92 cents a share, in the first quarter of 2017. The Bloomberg analyst consensus forecast the carrier would report net income of $120.6 million, or $1.09 a share.

Mike Ducker will retire Aug. 15 as president and CEO of FedEx Freight after leading the group for four years, FedEx Corp. announced April 16. His successor will be named later.

Another firm has joined the competitive same-day delivery space, facing off against major logistics firms as it works to find a niche in moving and delivering bulky, heavy items for retailers and consumers. Seattle-based Dolly recently expanded to serve seven large cities and has teamed with such merchants as Costco Wholesale Corp., Crate & Barrel, Lowe’s Cos. and The Container Store.

More than three-quarters of transportation industry firms plan to grow their workforce this year, but 69% say it’s a challenge to recruit qualified candidates, according to the 2018 Transportation Spotlight report taken from the annual employment screening survey from HireRight.

The leaders of beleaguered carrier Celadon Group said they were focused on “getting back to basics” after a year of turmoil and an inevitable delisting of its stock by the New York Stock Exchange.

Roadrunner Transportation Systems in the past week traveled a bit further on its path to earn a profit and remain a publicly listed company, releasing results for the first nine months of 2017. The Downers Grove, Ill.-based truckload and less-than-truckload carrier has been amending its financial filings since announcing more than a year ago that a company-led investigation found that the previous management team made substantial accounting errors.

Truck driver pay and compensation increased through 2017 and into the first quarter as carrier demand for qualified drivers to carry freight nationwide kept rising, according to two new reports.