LTL

News and analysis of less-than-truckload rates, capacity, supply, demand, economics, technology, regulation, strategies

 

The latest LTL News & Analysis

Roadrunner to enter Canada as K+N, Canada Cartage make cross-border acquisitions

William B. Cassidy, Senior Editor |
The expansion of the three companies, all representing different modes across the US-Canadian border, underscores the depth of the relationship between the two economies.
SurfaceForwardingTrucking NewsTruckloadLTL

Control of US LTL capacity in 2024 hangs on sale of Yellow terminals

William B. Cassidy, Senior Editor |
An auction of Yellow’s 174 owned terminals is scheduled for Tuesday, with winning bids to be disclosed on Friday while a separate battle continues over 149 leased terminals.
SurfaceTrucking NewsLTL

Estes commits to more technology spending after October cyberattack

William B. Cassidy, Senior Editor |
With its systems restored, the LTL carrier plans to “lean into” technology development and investment for greater security and visibility.
SurfaceLTL

LTL carriers aim high in pricing as market continues to settle post-Yellow

William B. Cassidy, Senior Editor |
Large LTL trucking providers are raising tariff rates 5% to 8% on average, but the LTL PPI slowed its growth to under 1% in October.
SurfaceTrucking NewsLTL

Forward Air formally moves to terminate Omni Logistics merger

William B. Cassidy, Senior Editor |
The expedited less-than-truckload provider has asked a Delaware court to let it kill the controversial deal that has caused its share price to plummet and raised the ire of activist investors.
SurfaceForwardingTrucking NewsLTL

Bid from car hauler to revive defunct Yellow has shippers skeptical

William B. Cassidy, Senior Editor |
Jack Cooper Transport wants to outbid other truckers for the assets of the bankrupt less-than-truckload provider, but it’s not clear how the bid would work.
Trucking NewsLTL

Omni Logistics sues Forward Air to enforce completion of merger deal

William B. Cassidy, Senior Editor |
Freight forwarder Omni isn’t giving up on a merger with Forward and is moving to force completion of the deal despite Forward’s cold feet. 
SurfaceForwardingTrucking NewsLTL

US LTL carriers expanding terminal networks amid post-Yellow recalibration

William B. Cassidy, Senior Editor |
With hundreds of terminals on the market, LTL trucking companies are setting their sights on Yellow’s sites and other properties as they expand and optimize networks to handle more freight.
SurfaceTrucking NewsLTL

Forward Air says considering canceling Omni Logistics merger

William B. Cassidy, Senior Editor |
The apparent change of heart from Forward management comes as Forward activist investors opposed to the $150 million deal try to oust the company’s chief executive.
SurfaceTrucking NewsLTL

US LTL carriers gaining freight and hiking rates, but real recovery is elusive

William B. Cassidy, Senior Editor |
Less-than-truckload freight once hauled by Yellow is being “reallocated” among carriers, and rates are rising, but an underlying economic impetus for a surge in LTL demand is still missing.
SurfaceTrucking NewsLTL

Investor group seeks to block Forward Air-Omni deal, oust Forward CEO

William B. Cassidy, Senior Editor |
Ancora Alternatives is seeking a special shareholder meeting to replace members of Forward’s board of directors, including CEO Tom Schmitt, with the ultimate goal of killing the acquisition of Omni, which Ancora blames for a steep drop in Forward’s stock value. 
SurfaceTrucking NewsLTL

US trucking jobs shrank last month, but far less than expected  

William B. Cassidy, Senior Editor |
Motor carriers may be concerned that in what is still a tight job market, any employees who are let go temporarily would not be available when demand rises again.
SurfaceTrucking NewsTruckloadLTLTrucking labor

Estes restoring critical IT systems following cyberattack

William B. Cassidy, Senior Editor |
The fourth-largest US less-than-truckload carrier said it had restored many of its core systems by Sunday, while continuing to pick up and deliver freight despite a week of disruption.
SurfaceTrucking NewsLTL

US LTL capacity tightens further as Estes cyberattack outage continues

William B. Cassidy, Senior Editor and Ari Ashe, Senior Editor |
Brokered LTL freight may be the first freight diverted away from Estes, and it may be harder for those transactional shipments to find alternate carriers.
Trucking NewsLTL

US LTL carrier Estes hit by widespread systems outage

Eric Johnson, Senior Technology Editor |
A systems outage that has left less-than-truckload carrier Estes grappling with email, website and data exchange issues is the latest such incident to befall the logistics and transportation industry.
LTLLogistics Technology News

Inland23: US-Mexico trucking costs rising with cross-border demand

William B. Cassidy, Senior Editor |
Cross-border trade with Mexico is one of the few hot spots in trucking, but fuel prices and other costs are putting more pressure on rates.
SurfaceTrucking NewsTruckloadLTL

Inland23: US trucking costs rising amid weak demand

Mark Szakonyi, Executive Editor |
Rising labor costs — both behind the wheel and at the warehouse, elevated diesel prices and cross-dock scarcity in major cities are making it more costly to run transportation networks, attendees at the Journal of Commerce’s Inland Distribution Conference were told.
SurfaceTrucking NewsTruckloadLTLTrucking labor

US LTL shippers still juggling carriers, freight in wake of Yellow’s demise

William B. Cassidy, Senior Editor |
Less-than-truckload freight once hauled by Yellow is being redistributed among other carriers in waves as shippers shop for the best fit in price, capacity, technology and service.
SurfaceTrucking NewsLTL

Estes wins battle to control sale of Yellow terminals amid tightening LTL capacity 

William B. Cassidy, Senior Editor |
A US bankruptcy court approved a $1.525 billion bid by Estes Express Lines to be the “stalking horse” that sets the floor price for Yellow’s terminals at auction, controlling their sale in November.
SurfaceTrucking NewsLTL

Estes expands international forwarding, raises bid for Yellow terminals

William B. Cassidy, Senior Editor |
Estes Forwarding Worldwide, a subsidiary of the LTL trucking provider, is buying Superior Brokerage Services, a step that increases Estes’ ability to offer end-to-end logistics services as other providers look to do the same.
ForwardingTrucking NewsLTL

Underlying US LTL demand ‘relatively consistent’ post-Yellow: ODFL

William B. Cassidy, Senior Editor |
While the country’s second-largest LTL provider gained shipments in August after the demise of Yellow, it sees no signs that overall freight demand is improving.
SurfaceTrucking NewsLTL

US LTL carriers gain freight, but employment plummets post-Yellow

William B. Cassidy, Senior Editor |
Saia and XPO are the latest LTL carriers to report volume gains in August, a month when trucking employment dropped more than 2% following Yellow’s shutdown.
SurfaceTrucking NewsLTL

Smaller LTL fleets gain freight, add terminals post-Yellow

William B. Cassidy, Senior Editor |
Regional LTL carrier A. Duie Pyle and point-to-point trucking firm Hercules Freight are finding opportunities to expand as shippers adjust to the loss of Yellow’s capacity.
SurfaceTrucking NewsLTL

ABF’s LTL shipments, pricing jump after Yellow collapse

William B. Cassidy, Senior Editor |
ArcBest less-than-truckload (LTL) subsidiary ABF Freight is taking on additional volume and raising rates as a broad realignment of the US LTL sector gains speed.
SurfaceTrucking NewsLTL

ODFL, Estes wage billion-dollar bidding war for Yellow LTL terminals

William B. Cassidy, Senior Editor |
Control of Yellow’s real estate may determine who gets to expand in the less-than-truckload (LTL) sector, and who must scramble to find property.
LTLSurfaceTrucking News

US shippers riding post-Yellow shockwaves as LTL freight shifts among carriers

William B. Cassidy, Senior Editor |
Some logistics managers report longer transit times and delivery delays, as well as higher costs, as remaining LTL providers divide the freight once hauled by Yellow. 
SurfaceTrucking NewsLTL

Estes Express offers $1.3 billion for all of Yellow’s terminals 

William B. Cassidy, Senior Editor |
A ‘stalking horse bid’ from Estes, a rival trucking company, would set a floor for any competing bids for the more than 160 properties owned by Yellow.
SurfaceTrucking NewsLTL

Potential buyers look to pounce on Yellow assets up for sale

William B. Cassidy, Senior Editor |
More than 60 buyers are said to be scrutinizing the terminals and assets of defunct LTL carrier Yellow as freight volumes rise at its former US trucking competitors.
SurfaceTrucking NewsLTL

Forward Air looks to hook high-value shippers in Omni Logistics deal

William B. Cassidy, Senior Editor |
Omni’s international and US forwarding customers are expected to send more freight to Forward Air’s expedited less-than-truckload network in the US. 
SurfaceTrucking NewsLTL

No US freight rebound until 2024: analysts 

William B. Cassidy, Senior Editor |
The current freight downturn could continue until mid-2024, thanks to lower manufacturing output, high levels of employment and excess capacity, experts told the Journal of Commerce Thursday.
SurfaceTrucking NewsTruckloadLTL

Omni Logistics purchase to expand Forward Air’s LTL, global reach

William B. Cassidy, Senior Editor |
The merger of third-party logistics provider Omni and expedited less-than-truckload (LTL) carrier Forward Air will create a more multimodal LTL network focused on high-value freight.
LTLTrucking NewsSupply chain

LTL carrier Yellow reports $70m H1 loss after shutting down

William B. Cassidy, Senior Editor |
Yellow lost money in its last six months as shippers moved freight elsewhere and non-operating expenses, including debt payments and interest, consumed shrinking operating profits.
SurfaceTrucking NewsLTLTrucking labor

US trucking hiring slowing amid soft freight demand

William B. Cassidy, Senior Editor |
The US economy is improving, but the gains in recent months haven’t translated into additional freight, nor an additional surge in trucking employment.
Trucking laborTrucking NewsTruckloadLTL

Yellow seeks orderly ‘wind down’ amid bankruptcy filing

William B. Cassidy, Senior Editor |
The third-largest US less-than-truckload (LTL) carrier said Sunday it plans to use debtor-in-possession financing to support the sale of assets, while CEO Darren Hawkins blamed the Teamsters union for its collapse.
LTLTruckloadTrucking labor

XPO plans to add capacity as LTL freight volumes surge

William B. Cassidy, Senior Editor |
Shipment volume at the third-largest LTL carrier in the US jumped nearly 9% in July from a year ago and 3.2% from June as shippers moved freight away from rival carrier Yellow.
SurfaceTrucking NewsLTL

US LTL carriers expanding revenue, profitability despite ongoing consolidation

William B. Cassidy, Senior Editor |
The number of large US less-than-truckload carriers is shrinking, but the remaining operators are more profitable, have higher revenues and play a bigger role in customer’s supply chains.
SurfaceTrucking NewsLTL

Yellow, lenders talk bankruptcy financing as stock price surges

William B. Cassidy, Senior Editor |
Hedging and short selling made Yellow a “meme stock” early this week, but experts say rumors of a comeback are as wildly misplaced as investors’ cash.
SurfaceTrucking NewsLTL

Yellow collapse seen hitting smaller, mid-sized LTL shippers hardest

William B. Cassidy, Senior Editor |
The loss of the third-largest US less-than-truckload carrier is hitting a broad tranche of smaller, less-sophisticated shippers hard as they struggle with volatile rate hikes, logistics providers say.
SurfaceTrucking NewsLTLTrucking labor

Tough market conditions slow DHL’s H1 profitability

Greg Knowler, Senior Editor Europe |
A challenging operating environment pulled down revenue and earnings at DHL, but the Germany-based integrator remains in a highly profitable position ahead of an uncertain second half.
Air Cargo Forwarder NewsContainer Shipping NewsLTLLast Mile News

TForce Freight employees ratify five-year contract with Teamsters

William B. Cassidy, Senior Editor |
US shippers gained some security in the LTL market as Teamsters at TForce approved a new contract with the LTL carrier.
SurfaceTrucking NewsLTLTrucking labor