Old Dominion, ABF to hike tariff rates

Old Dominion Freight Line, one of the nation's largest less-than-truckload (LTL) carriers, said today it will raise tariff, or non-contract, rates by 4.4 percent, effective Jan. 18.

Meanwhile, ABF Freight System Inc., another large LTL carrier, has announced it will raise its tariff rates by 5.7 percent. The increase is set to take effect Jan. 11.

In a statement, Old Dominion said its increases would be based on shipment length of haul rather than implemented on an across-the-board basis as has traditionally been the case. "Minimum charges in shorter-haul lanes will be increased slightly, while minimum shipments in longer-haul lanes will be reduced," said Todd Polen, vice president of pricing for the Thomasville, N.C.-based trucker, in the statement.

Old Dominion and Fort Smith, Ark.-based ABF join UPS Freight, the LTL unit of UPS Inc., in announcing rate hikes for 2010. In mid-December, UPS announced a 5.7-percent rate increase on non-contractual business, which went into effect Jan. 4.

Neither Con-way Inc. nor FedEx Freight, the LTL subsidiary of FedEx Corp., has publicly announced pricing actions for 2010. A spokeswoman for YRC Worldwide Inc., the largest LTL carrier by sales, did not respond to a query about its rate actions by press time. YRC's Web site makes no reference to 2010 rate actions.