Senior Technology Editor

Technology provider Freightify is aiming to empower forwarders to build an online quoting presence that would lessen their reliance on rate marketplaces. 

Freightify lands funding to target digital rate management in North America

Senior Editor

Old Dominion Freight Line “has its fingers crossed” that the decline in less-than-truckload volumes is turning and an increase in freight demand will be seen in March or the second quarter.

US LTL freight volumes starting to improve ahead of spring: ODFL

The return of US ports to normal cargo flow is demonstrated starkly in the year-over-year comparisons of vessel schedule reliability in the Asia-US trade.

Improved US cargo flow drives continued gains in trans-Pacific schedule reliability 

The traditional air cargo market slowdown has been exaggerated by an early start to the Lunar New Year and an unfavorable comparison with last year’s robust peak season.

Early Lunar New Year stalls Asian air cargo recovery  

Data shows US importers are walking the walk when it comes to sourcing diversification, slowly moving trade flows away from China and toward Vietnam, India, and South Korea, writes Journal of Commerce Executive Editor Mark Szakonyi.

Sourcing shift from China pulls US import share to more than a decade low

Shippers saved less than in prior quarters on their intermodal contracts to close 2022, setting up a race to the bottom this year to keep freight on the rails. 

Intermodal contract savings fell in Q4 ahead of 2023 bids

A classification system that considers the full requirements and costs of service providers, and is constantly being adapted to new realities, is the best system available, writes the vice president of classification for the National Motor Freight Traffic Association.

Why the NMFC system has stood the test of time

While a few carriers such as ABF Freight and FedEx Freight have rolled out dimensional pricing, and others have expressed the desire to do so, they have largely overlooked the reasons for shippers’ reluctance to switch to dimensional rates.

Surface

Time to wean the LTL industry off the NMFC model 

Scrutiny over Flexport’s job cuts earlier this month points to a long-term issue for the venture-backed logistics company: a perceived lack of identity in a market that has long been skeptical of its differentiation.

Big Flexport layoffs offer potential clue to its future identity 

Even as weak economic conditions prevail during the annual service contract negotiating cycle, it does not automatically mean shippers will be driving the hardest possible bargains with newly vulnerable carriers. 

Ocean shippers may ‘pay up’ for secure capacity despite weak market

With an increased focus by importers on geopolitics and “friend-shoring,” carriers are shifting an increasing volume of deep-sea vessel capacity away to Vietnam — and away from China.

Vietnam sees surge in deep-sea vessel capacity amid trade sourcing shift

Shippers are generally willing to share in the cost of reducing carbon emissions, but they worry a lack of transparency in pass-through charges could allow shipping lines to continue burning fossil fuels.

Pass-through fees could disincentivize carriers from decarbonizing: shippers 

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Freightify lands funding to target digital rate management in North America

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