Truckload

The return of seasonality, tender rejections and an end to discounting all hint at a coming uptick in truckload demand in the second half of the year and higher rates next year, the largest US truckload operator says.

Demand fundamentals do not signal a substantial uptick in trucking volumes for the second half of the year, meaning a strong bull market pricing cycle will have to wait, writes analyst Jason Miller.

The company believes shippers will benefit from a payments network it has created to help brokers and carriers bill shippers accurately before an invoice is sent out.

Speakers at the SMC3 Connections Conference this week warned that US truckload pricing will rise slowly heading toward 2025, although others expect a faster move.

The $1.025 billion acquisition gives RXO growth not otherwise available in a weakened brokerage market and narrows UPS’s focus to package deliveries.

The average US transactional dry-van truckload rate rose “a fraction” above its year-ago level Wednesday, following strong year-over-year gains in spot market volumes, according to DAT Freight & Analytics.

Despite a 7.1% unadjusted month-to-month increase in mostly contractual truck tonnage, more data is needed before the American Trucking Associations will call it a “recovery.”

Produce shipments by weight have dropped in 2024, and that’s helped maintain “adequate” truckload capacity in most parts of the US, the Department of Agriculture said.

This year’s truckload spot rates are hugging the baseline set in 2023 as the freight recession drags on; a major increase seems unlikely anytime soon.

The preliminary agreement avoids a strike that could have created traffic jams along the US-Canada border, disrupting trade and manufacturing. 

Shippers need to consider contingency plans for truck shipments crossing the US-Canadian border in case Canada’s Customs and Immigration Union calls a strike this week.

Last month’s actual trucking employment gain was lower than expected as the US economy added more jobs in service industries such as hospitality and healthcare. 

One of the first “digital-native” brokerages, Transfix is shifting its focus to selling software as a service to other brokers, including NFI.

The post-pandemic resilience of small fleets has been attributed in part to driver reliance on apps such as the one Convoy built, which Flexport purchased last November.

Amid growing interest in making the truckload appointment scheduling process more efficient, the US visibility provider has added weight to an initiative started in late 2022.

US shippers are playing a direct role in keeping the for-hire truck market soft as they tactically shift freight to in-house fleets, according to Cass Freight Index.

Amid a range of efforts to automate and standardize truckload appointments, a new provider has launched a neutral platform to reduce manual work and errors associated with the process.

Average US truckload pricing has hardly risen since last June, while less-than-truckload costs continue to climb due to tighter capacity.

Increased negative sentiment toward inventory growth among surveyed shippers points to “no-build-and-hold” leaner inventory strategies that would dull freight demand.

The Journal of Commerce Truckload Capacity Index dropped to its lowest level since 2017 as large truckload carriers cut trucks loose, but excess capacity remains.

Candor Expedite’s new service is designed to let perishables shippers use lower-cost freight modes and reduce product spoilage.

Continued year-over-year contraction in truckload shipments and shipper spending in the first quarter means the next pricing upswing is likely to be slow, rather than sudden.

The impact of companies relocating manufacturing to Mexico is beginning to be felt, with Ryder’s freight volumes rising all along the US-Mexico border.

Cost and pricing pressures are tightening truckload margins, but Knight-Swift CEO Adam Miller sees supply and demand getting “closer to a balance.”

With Class 8 truck orders dropping, ACT Research believes rising US freight demand will hit tightening truck capacity sooner rather than later.

Knight-Swift and rival J.B. Hunt both say shippers are pushing hard for lower truckload and intermodal rates in service contracts as freight demand remains soft.

A machine learning-based platform will access data on more than 400,000 vehicles to help shippers evaluate the performance and cost of in-house trucking operations.

The country’s largest intermodal trucking provider was hit by a see-saw effect in early 2024 as a “dogfight” with truckers in the East balanced import gains in the West. 

There are signs of growth in the latest Cass Freight Index, but US transportation markets lack a catalyst that would accelerate volumes.

Improving economic indicators are drawing small carriers back to trucking, while the LTL market continues settling post-Yellow, analysts told a Journal of Commerce webcast.

A rebound in the US Freight Transportation Services Index is the latest of several indicators pointing to stronger seasonal freight activity, but excess capacity is diluting the impact of demand. 

The largest truckload carriers increased revenue 40% from 2020 through 2022, but their rocket ran out of fuel last year amid tumbling spot market prices, lower contract rates and falling fuel surcharges.

Maersk is the first container line to publicly promote a direct pipeline of ocean freight to what’s known as Section 321 shipments, though the model has been used for years by freight forwarders.

The digital freight marketplace is making new software tools that target fake brokers and fraudulent pickups available to customers as well as competitors.

Demand for drop-and-hook capacity is prompting freight broker Uber Freight to invest in more markets for its Powerloop program, which marries GPS tracking of trailers to available shipper loads.

A Truckstop.com survey of more than 2,000 US motor carriers found those fleets drove an additional 3,000 miles in 2023 and handled more loads, staying on the road and slowing an expected decline in available capacity.

Members of the Clean Freight Coalition say they aren’t opposed to converting from diesel to electric vehicles, but argue that regulators are pushing timelines that are too aggressive and will cause supply chain disruptions and higher prices.

Using layers of technology from digital documents to artificial intelligence to tracking devices, shippers can detect and even head off the growing threat of cargo crime, experts say.

The leadership change atop the largest US truckload provider will likely come as a “significant surprise” to the market, according to one industry analyst.

The US LTL producer price index rose 2.6% in January from December, while the equivalent truckload measure fell 2.6%, underscoring differences between the sectors.