Top 50 3PLs

The largest US logistics provider claims “compelling results” from cross-selling surface transportation and air and ocean services, despite weak market conditions.

The change in leadership is likely to accelerate strategic changes in planning and capital spending at C.H. Robinson that have been under way since last March at the urging of investors.

Ryder System is joining the race to deploy more drop-and-hook trailer pools for shippers that need greater flexibility to reduce costs and counter supply chain disruption.

US transportation companies with cash on hand are acquiring asset-based truckers and non-asset freight brokers alike to add services and shipper customers and build network density.

The acquisition of Fastmore Logistics will give Echo Global Logistics more access to international freight forwarders, linking domestic and international cargo networks.

Weeks of delays in moving freight from US ports to Chicago are eating into the inland warehousing space needed to get that freight out of intermodal railyards and to customers.

Despite softening spot rates in some modes, overall supply chain costs are rising, with higher interest rates putting more pressure on inventories, according to the CSCMP State of Logistics report.

C.H. Robinson Worldwide says the changing trucking market is driving up demand for automated spot pricing quotes by double-digit percentages.

The debate over whether a freight recession is starting in US trucking is getting hotter as spot rates decline but other demand and pricing indicators stay positive.

Lineage’s latest acquisition expands the global food chain logistics company’s reach across Canada.

As it prepares to go public, Transfix is looking to derive more revenue from non-transactional shipper services, including its drop trailer program, and to draw smaller shippers to its platform.

C.H. Robinson Worldwide, the largest US freight broker, sees autonomous trucking as a “new mode” and a way to better manage its partners’ assets, creating capacity for shippers.

The acquisition of cross-border specialist Forager Group will help multi-modal logistics provider Arrive offer shippers more visibility, connections, and capacity.

A fresh round of investor cash sets the stage for greater automation and expansion of facilities in Lineage’s global cold-chain network.

The $480 million purchase of the former Port Logistics Group connects seaports more closely to Ryder System’s e-commerce fulfillment network.

C.H. Robinson Worldwide is linking its less-than-truckload carrier network to the retail platform offered by SPS Commerce to help shippers get retail goods onto shelves and avoid holiday stockouts.

Choptank expands Hub Group’s refrigerated brokerage business as US shippers demand greater access to transportation capacity across modes and sectors.

The third-party logistics market is being reshaped in a crucible of ongoing supply chain disruption and technology, Transplace CEO Frank McGuigan told the JOC Inland Distribution webcast.

Recent merger and acquisition activity, such as the ArcBest-Molo deal, proves many investors believe opportunity lies in third-party logistics providers.

As shippers increasingly turn to – or are forced to – the spot market for truck capacity, automation will identify opportunities to lower costs, according to C.H. Robinson Worldwide.

The $1.3 billion acquisition of Echo Global Logistics by a private equity company will fuel an automation drive at the third-party logistics provider as shippers dealing with disruption demand more sophisticated technology.

The acquisition of third-party logistics provider Transplace will transform Uber Freight, providing greater access to shippers, as it builds a “fully-scaled” logistics platform.

Digital broker Uber Freight is expanding its truckload platform to encompass LTL, as strapped US shippers turn to LTL carriers and 3PLs such as BlueGrace for capacity.

The e-commerce boom means more vehicles moving more goods, and potentially emitting more pollutants, but DHL also sees opportunities to advance sustainability goals on land, sea, and in the air as e-commerce expands.

The planned merger of GlobalTranz and Worldwide Express is being driven by extreme US freight market conditions that will push shippers toward third-party logistics providers.

The planned merger of GlobalTranz and Worldwide Express, creating the fourth-largest freight brokerage in North America, allows the third-party logistics providers to pool parcel, less-than-truckload, and truckload capabilities in tight surface capacity market.

The Coyote Curve truckload market forecast calls for a new spot pricing peak in the third quarter, but the pricing cycle may not turn downward until 2022.

The Coyote Curve truckload market forecast calls for a new spot pricing peak in the third quarter, but the pricing cycle may not turn downward until 2022.

The largest US truckload operator, Knight-Swift, acquired non-asset 3PL UTXL to gain access to additional trucks and drivers, as well as new logistics services.

The JOC Intermodal Savings Index hit a new record in Q1, but rising spot intermodal rates and surcharges could reduce savings in Q2.

Freight broker and forwarder C.H. Robinson is growing LTL volume "faster than the marketplace” as US shippers scramble to find available capacity for shipments.

Third-party logistics and software firms such as C.H. Robinson Worldwide and Blume Global are broadening the use of technology to drive emissions out of supply chains, increasingly for smaller customers as well as global corporations.

J.B. Hunt will be adding 12,000 new containers in 2021, upping its original order announced in January based on increased shipper demand for intermodal service.

Domestic intermodal shippers in California will be subject to a surcharge of $1,000 to $1,500 on excess contract cargo beginning Apr. 25, the first time Union Pacific has instituted such a peak-season fee before the summer.

Shippers can save more money than ever before on intermodal, if they could find equipment and draymen to move their cargo to and from rail terminals amid scarce supply of both.

Third-party logistics industry had a banner 2020, with double-digit revenue growth, according to SJ Consulting.

Knight Swift CEO Dave Jackson tells JOC’s virtual TPM21 conference that trailer pools, agility, and long-term thinking is the way carriers and shippers can reduce the wild swings seen in trucking rates since 2017.

Union Pacific Railroad is shutting down virtually all business across its intermodal network for 72 hours because of snow and ice in the Pacific Northwest, Midwest, and even as far south as Texas.

A growing gap between inventory and sales in many US business sectors is projected to drive replenishment, expedited shipping, and high levels of imports for months to come.

Shippers may see intermodal savings evaporate in the first quarter if rail contracts rise more than 10 percent and spot truck rates continue to cool off and pressure truck contracts.