| Freight index at lowest March level since 2003 The Freight Transportation Services Index fell 1.9 percent in March from its February level, the largest monthly decline since August 2006, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics reported Wednesday, May 14. Since dropping to a recent low in September, the freight index has increased sharply in October and January, with each rise followed by a sharp drop two months later. At 109.4 in March, the Freight TSI was up 1.3 percent in the six months since its recent low of 108.0 in September but down 3.3 percent from its peak of 113.1 reached in November 2005. However, the 0.5 percent increase in the freight index since December marked the second consecutive year the index increased in the first three months. The March Freight TSI level of 109.4 was 0.4 percent lower than the March 2007 level for the third consecutive March-to-March decline. The index is at its lowest March level since March 2003. Despite declines from recent March levels, the freight index has increased 6.1 percent in five years and 10.7 percent in 10 years. The Freight TSI measures the month-to-month changes in the output of services provided by the for-hire freight transportation industries. The index consists of data from for-hire trucking, rail, inland waterways, pipelines and air freight. It includes historic data from 1990 to the present. The baseline year is 2000. |
Monday, May 19, 2008
Freight index at lowest March level since 2003
TV series to hit the ice roads again
TV series to hit the ice roads again
The second season of “Ice Road Truckers,” the popular History Channel docu- mentary series about hauling through the Canadian Arctic, begins at 9 p.m. Eastern on Sunday, June 8.
Returning from the previous season are Alex Debogorski, Hugh Rowland, Drew Sherwood and Rick Yemm, joined by newcomers Erik DuFresne and Jerry Dusdal.
DuFresne is described by the producers as a safety-minded and environmentally conscious French Canadian with a lot of experience behind the wheel, while Dusdal is a former driver now responsible for the safety and supervision of the ice road truckers at Mullen’s Trucking.
The premiere of the first season of “Ice Road Truckers” was the History Channel’s top-rated original show to date, and 20th Century Fox plans to turn the series into a fictional feature film. But the owners of the ice routes spotlighted in the first season reportedly disliked the way the show portrayed the profession, and a change of venue has been announced for the second season.
“This year, we've moved from the harsh and isolated environment around Yellowknife to a place even colder and more desolate--the small Arctic town of Inuvik, over 100 miles north of the Arctic Circle,” says the show website, www.history.com/iceroadtruckers. Winter temperatures along the storm-lashed Mackenzie River can dip as low as 60 degrees below zero Fahrenheit.
The website features profiles of the truckers, full episodes, short videos, interviews, custom wallpapers and even a Cold Weather Survival Guide.
 Drew Sherwood drives his Peterbilt along the ice road. (Photo by Ken Woroner) |
Returning from the previous season are Alex Debogorski, Hugh Rowland, Drew Sherwood and Rick Yemm, joined by newcomers Erik DuFresne and Jerry Dusdal.
DuFresne is described by the producers as a safety-minded and environmentally conscious French Canadian with a lot of experience behind the wheel, while Dusdal is a former driver now responsible for the safety and supervision of the ice road truckers at Mullen’s Trucking.
The premiere of the first season of “Ice Road Truckers” was the History Channel’s top-rated original show to date, and 20th Century Fox plans to turn the series into a fictional feature film. But the owners of the ice routes spotlighted in the first season reportedly disliked the way the show portrayed the profession, and a change of venue has been announced for the second season.
“This year, we've moved from the harsh and isolated environment around Yellowknife to a place even colder and more desolate--the small Arctic town of Inuvik, over 100 miles north of the Arctic Circle,” says the show website, www.history.com/iceroadtruckers. Winter temperatures along the storm-lashed Mackenzie River can dip as low as 60 degrees below zero Fahrenheit.
The website features profiles of the truckers, full episodes, short videos, interviews, custom wallpapers and even a Cold Weather Survival Guide.
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