Truckload

US importers and their Mexican logistics and customs partners are experiencing longer wait times when northbound shipments arrive at border towns, and that’s inevitably raising transportation costs and leading to supply chain disruptions.

AFS Logistics and TD Cowen are forecasting a decline in truckload pricing and moderation in the LTL market as shippers and carriers alike navigate a new trade reality.

The $12 million investment in Cargado will be used to expand the load board with other tools for freight brokers to tap into cross-border freight growth.

As shippers race to get goods from Mexico and Canada into the US before full implementation of 25% tariffs Wednesday, they’re beginning to rethink supply chains.

In a move to better utilize its leased pool of trailers, Uber Freight has partnered with software vendor Optimal Dynamics to bundle loads for drivers across 10 trailer pool locations.

Acquisitions continue in the domestic freight market, with Descartes buying 3GTMS to continue a decade-long spree of purchases.

Some analysts see green shoots that could signal higher US freight demand, but those encouraging signs remain fragile in an uncertain economy.

Truckload spot shipments and pricing in trade corridors such as Toronto-to-Chicago have soared since the US election, but the increases flow in both directions.

Acquisition activity in the truckload space continues, with price benchmarking vendor Greenscreens.ai the latest to sell.

A drop in consumer confidence, spurred by higher inflation and tariff fears, makes a significant increase in freight demand and truck rates less likely until late in 2025.

Supply chain security technology provider Overhaul forecasts another big year for cargo theft in 2025, although not as big as a 49% year-over-year increase in 2024.

The Journal of Commerce Truckload Capacity Index hit a 10-year low in the fourth quarter, but its rate of decline has slowed considerably as truckload pricing begins to rise from its bottom.

While trucking companies and intermodal carriers believe contract rates will rise this summer, shippers are skeptical given past predictions that have fallen by the wayside.

A slow shift away from one-way truckload toward dedicated is reshaping the top tier of truckload carriers, a transformation that may accelerate in a freight recovery.

The largest US freight broker expects the first quarter of 2025 to be weak for trucking as the freight recession remains in place, but it is converting more customers to use its services for ocean freight.

Speakers at SMC3’s Jump Start 25 conference see advance signals of better demand growth for freight in 2025, but the pace and extent of that growth are still uncertain.

With plenty of truck capacity still available, US shippers are trying to tamp down rising truck rates without driving off their current truckload carriers.

A handful of companies unveiled new products in the last week intended to enable decision-making based off the visibility data they provide.

Shipper-paid spot truck pricing from major US ports rose faster than the average US rate in late 2024 as importers prepared for a potential longshore strike.

The lack of sustained underlying freight demand is keeping contract truckload rates close to flat, analysts and shippers say, despite a late-year seasonal gain in spot rates.

The acquisition is part of a surge in logistics M&A transactions aimed at simplifying access to systems and services for shippers and brokers.

Acquisitions, new product releases and fresh investment among companies catering to truckload brokers speak to an industry wrestling with the need to make things easier for customers.

The acquisition of Trucker Tools will give DAT access to carrier positioning data to arm its truckload broker customers.

A 30% increase in the total value of transportation and logistics acquisitions over the last six months signals a stronger market for M&A emerging in 2025, PwC says in a market report.

A partnership between C.H. Robinson Worldwide and Highway seeks to push carrier ID systems deeper into truck brokerage networks as shippers demand action to prevent cargo theft by fraudsters.

For-hire trucking companies are adding workers again, but not enough to handle any big surge in freight volumes, as prospective employees look for more local jobs.

Generative AI is changing the nature of core freight brokerage processes, potentially impacting the amount brokers earn and how employees get paid.

Freight brokers large and small are testing software, including the tools developed by Vooma, that automate core functions such as quoting, load building and tracking.

The $390 million deal for Cowan will boost Schneider’s dedicated trucking segment to 8,400 tractors, representing 70% of its total fleet.

A dearth of consolidation means there are still plenty of visibility vendors for shippers to choose from, but it also means the market as a whole is on somewhat unsteady ground.

Brokers would have to make transaction records, including shipper rates, available to trucking companies electronically and the requirements could supersede non-disclosure agreements, according to a proposed rule from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.

GenLogs, founded by an ex-counterterrorism expert, is offering shippers and brokers a way to track lost trailers and trucks as cargo theft booms in the US.

Shippers, brokers and trucking executives at a Traffic Club of Chicago forum all said the long freight downturn isn’t finished — but are hopeful it’s nearing an end.

The company sees its new Broker Access product as another channel for brokers to find capacity outside of contracts with truckload carriers and posting spot freight on a load board.

Customers of automated freight procurement tool Keelvar will get access to more than $1 trillion in truckload pricing data as part of a new arrangement with DAT Freight & Analytics.

After two years of shipping pricing power, analysts expect spot and contract truckload rates to rise over the course of next year, with the biggest hikes coming in the second half.

The Journal of Commerce Truckload Capacity Index indicates large US carriers pulled back on capacity cuts in the third quarter and are planning for expansion and higher rates.

Cross-border supply chains need to become more integrated and efficient to increase capacity on both sides of a constricted border, logistics executives say.

Shippers once saw small variances on freight bills as a nuisance too insignificant to dispute, but technology is enabling more efficient scrutiny across transportation modes.

A stronger manufacturing recovery is needed to increase demand in both the truckload and LTL sectors, speakers said during a Journal of Commerce webcast.