Truck brokers

An uptick in the West Coast share of Asian imports has already translated into heightened demand for surface transportation.

The largest US freight broker expects more companies to follow Convoy and exit the market as demand remains weak and rates stay low. 

The demise of truckload broker Convoy has highlighted how difficult it is to create differentiation in a market with no dominant player, with Convoy itself to blame for stoking more competition through its technology focus.

Transfix’s investment being announced on the same day Convoy told employees it was winding down operations highlights some of the differences between members of a group broadly defined as “digital brokers.”

The company has long been a lightning rod in the truckload industry, one of a cohort of so-called digital brokers to emerge in the 2010s backed by venture capital investors with an ambition to make the industry more efficient through digitizing processes.

Excess capacity in the truckload market is a chance for shippers to examine whether they or their freight brokers have the right technology tools to effectively price in the contract and spot markets.

Freight brokers, load boards, technology providers and law enforcement are attempting to contain the growing threat of truckload cargo theft and the fraudulent schemes that underpin it.

Two weeks after Forward Air acquired forwarder Omni Logistics, a private investment fund has taken over expedited third-party logistics provider Ascent Global Logistics.

Top 30 freight broker BNSF Logistics said it will use Trucker Tools software to improve visibility and freight matching for its surface transportation customers.

Targeting industrial and retail shippers that need expensive expedited services to meet stringent on-time metrics, freight broker Convoy is offering a product that guarantees shipments will be delivered within a predetermined 30-minute window.

DAT and freight broker Convoy had challenged each other in federal court over business practices related to Convoy attempting to set up a rival load board.

Truckstop is building on its 2022 purchase of carrier monitoring provider RMIS with the acquisition of freight-matching technology provider FrieightFriend.

Nuvocargo will use the new funding to expand its service footprint to all major over-the-road border crossings between the US and Mexico.

Flexport has lured a key figure in the development of Uber Freight and Coyote Logistics in a move likely to shake up the domestic third-party logistics market.

Many businesses are being forced to tighten controls over how goods are shipped and who they ship them with, but the technology that helps them may also be used against them, according to industry sources.

New York-New Jersey port truckers who worked five days per week last year are now down to about half that amount, sending spot drayage rates well below levels seen in 2021 and 2022.

Transportation observers believe the dueling complaints could have implications for the US spot truckload market because DAT is a primary source of available loads that brokers and carriers use to fill their pools of owned or third-party capacity.

Echo Global Logistics, Coyote Logistics and prominent transportation management system vendors Oracle and e2open are among new members adding momentum to a truckload appointment scheduling initiative.

Historic highs in global freight volumes and rates in the first half of last year helped insulate third-party logistics providers (3PLs) from a market collapse in the second half.

Shippers that often use spreadsheets and small transportation teams to bid and execute freight shipments are the target of a new software tool from technology provider Shipwell.

J.B. Hunt, Uber Freight, and Convoy are partnering to develop and drive broad industry adoption of a standard process for truckload appointment scheduling.

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 ReedTMS Logistics not only expands Werner’s brokerage reach, it also delivers shipper customers in the staple food and beverage industries.

US truckload capacity isn’t so much declining as it is shifting, according to data, and that will pose challenges to shippers and carriers trying to access trucks, trailers, and drivers.

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

The truckload market is still searching for a single platform that aggregates shipper loads and carrier capacity, a role that investors are backing Chicago-based Newtrul to eventually fill.

Regional stress is running through US truckload markets as demand softens, with price and capacity fluctuations that challenge shippers and carriers.

A weakening freight market and growing investor unease with holding companies designed to take early stage companies public have led Transfix to put a public listing on ice.

Real, unadjusted jobs in trucking dropped by 21,200 in September, an unusually high number, as contract and spot truckload rates declined.

More shippers are returning to the truckload spot market as rates drop, but experts say they’re using that market more strategically than ever before to reduce transportation costs.

US for-hire truck tonnage jumped 2.8 percent in August from July, according to the American Trucking Associations, as consumers and the US economy remained resilient despite inflation.

Convoy is attempting to differentiate itself within the competitive freight broker landscape by using data gathered from its driver-mandated app to provide more execution-focused visibility insights.

It is “highly probable” US shippers will recover at least some of last year’s truckload rate hikes, as the Cass Freight Index shows a sequential drop in truckload linehaul costs.

Strong trucking demand beyond the truckload spot market is to keep pressure on truck pricing, and will do so into 2023, speakers at a JOC webcast said Wednesday.

Convoy’s counterpunching approach to being sued by load board provider DAT Freight & Analytics is as much about winning the battle of public opinion as it is about winning in court, a transportation attorney told JOC.com.

The US trucking market is reinventing itself after a significant spot market correction, with larger contract carriers expecting steady freight demand through 2022 despite economic fears.

Load board provider DAT and freight broker Convoy have sued one another over Convoy’s development of a product that DAT says is competitive with its own, violating a contract Convoy signed with DAT.

End-to-end visibility of the freight flowing across oceans and moving across the US is the goal of the partnership between Flexport and Nolan Transportation Group, giving shippers more control over modal choices and costs.

Seasonal trends in over-the-road trucking are re-emerging — but not pre-COVID pricing — as the market realigns, truckload carrier executives say.

A 2.4 percent drop in the long-haul truckload producer price index for June shows contract truckload rates are softening, but prices shippers pay for LTL and specialized trucking continue to rise.