Truckload

Available truck capacity will increase this year for the first time since 2007, though not by much, ACT Research predicts

Better than expected freight demand in April and May pushed revenue and profit higher at Landstar System.

Unexpected shipment delays this week? Don’t be surprised if they’re attributed to a three-day, international truck and bus safety inspection blitz.

Shippers are agreeing to pay more to secure truckload capacity even as the sharp contraction in capacity seen this past winter eases.

Trucking companies looking for new ways to attract hard-to-hire drivers are rethinking how they “spec” or order trucks.

Can truck-mounted cameras help improve safety, train and retrain truck drivers and effectively improve driver retention at truckload carriers? Can they be used without invading a driver’s privacy? Or would onboard cameras push more drivers out of the trucking business?

Dry van and flatbed spot market truck rates remained steady this week, while refrigerated trucking rates continued their upward trend.

Trucking is a notoriously fragmented business. The Department of Transportation estimates there are 500,000 trucking companies in the U.S., with 97 percent of them operating 20 trucks or less.

The first quarter was warmer for trucking than you might think — at least financially.

The hectic truckload spot market calmed in April, as rising temperatures and more fluid transportation networks reduced some pressure on shippers seeking truck capacity.

Spot market truckload rates for dry van tractor-trailers tumbled in April after rocketing in the first quarter, falling to levels last seen New Year’s Eve.

Rising U.S. chemical output and strong shipping demand mean higher pay for tank-truck operators at Schneider National, the second-largest U.S. truckload carrier.

Think driverless trucks are a futuristic fantasy? Plenty of truckload carriers would tell you they have too many driverless trucks today — all parked against the fence for lack of drivers.

One way to measure trucking demand is by looking not at how much freight a trucking company can haul, but at how much freight it turns away.

Swift Transportation increased its revenue per loaded mile 3 percent in the first quarter as truck pricing rose and the company was paid for repositioning trucks. The president of the largest U.S. truckload carrier expects rates to rise even higher as the year unfolds.

Two trucking outfits at least managed to shrug off the winter snow and substantially increase first-quarter profits, while others lowered earnings estimates and froze growth plans.

Heartland Express passed the first major mile marker on its route to becoming a billion-dollar truckload operator this year, increasing first-quarter revenue 67.2 percent from a year ago to $224.5 million. Much of that additional cash comes from freshly acquired Gordon Trucking.

Dry van truckload rates on the spot market are dropping from first-quarter highs, but shippers could see rates climb higher as freight demand rises this spring, DAT Solutions warns.

A “meaningful improvement” in freight demand this winter is pushing truckload rates higher this spring, as shippers look to lock down truck capacity for the fall peak shipping season.

U.S. spot market truckload rates dropped slightly in mid-April, but not by much, a sign truckload capacity remains tight as shippers roll into the second quarter, putting across-the-board pressure on rates.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services appears back on track for intermodal growth, reflecting a broader pickup in intermodal following delays, disruptions and depressed volumes in the first quarter blamed on severe weather.

The 50 largest U.S. trucking companies raised their combined revenue 5.5 percent last year to $106.6 billion, but expanded at a slower pace than in 2012.

Shippers moved more freight and spent more to do so in March and the first quarter, despite weather-related supply chain disruptions, Cass Information Systems finds.

Contract truckload rates are set to rise higher than anticipated, BB&T says, as carrier try to recoup high costs and compensate for lower earnings following this winter's disruptive storms.

Orders for Class 8 trucks in North America continued to be “solid” in March, the fourth consecutive month with net orders above 25,000 units.

Three Texas-based companies are rushing to stake a claim in the shale oil and natural gas boom, merging to create a new energy transportation and logistics firm.

FTR Associates’ Trucking Conditions Index for February, published in the April issue of Trucking Update, fell to a reading of 7.54, down slightly from the previous month...

After three years of acquisitions, Celadon is selling its truck leasing portfolio for 600 tractors to Element Financial for $53 million, reducing debt and paving a route to greater expansion.

With truckload capacity tight across the U.S., carriers are rethinking their rate expectations for 2014, preparing for higher price hikes, a first quarter Transport Capital Partners survey shows.

March hasn't brought shippers relief from rising spot market truckload rates, as intense activity in some markets continues to keep single truck prices at a premium.

An early produce season is already tightening the supply of available northbound tractor-trailers coming from Mexico, Transplace's Troy Ryley says. That's a warning sign for shippers watching truck capacity closely.

Heavy snow and frigid temperatures in the Midwest will keep Universal Truckload Services' earnings from rising to their projected levels in the first quarter, the trucking firm warned. It's not alone.

When it came to expansion, the 25 largest truckload carriers idled their engines last year, increasing their combined revenue by just 0.6 percent to $25.6 billion. The growth they did enjoy came largely from acquisitions, a trend expected to continue in 2014 as truckload demand rises.

Truckload carriers kept more of their drivers on payroll in the fourth quarter, but driver turnover at large truckload carriers remains high, according to the American Trucking Associations.

TRAC Intermodal’s planned move into drayage is the first step in the company’s effort to expand its portfolio to provide “a broad suite of logistics services,” CEO Keith Lovetro said.

Higher first quarter volume and revenue at Landstar System reflect rising freight demand and truck rates, despite and perhaps in part thanks to severe weather.

TRAC Intermodal, the United States’ largest provider of intermodal chassis, plans to extend its services into drayage, said CEO Keith Lovetro.

The second lowest reading yet for JOC Truckload Capacity Index reflects lower truck counts at some of the largest U.S. carriers in the fourth quarter. The actual drop in capacity is likely deeper, as carrier bankruptcies hit a three-year high in the quarter.

Winter's icy grip on the eastern U.S. continues to cause supply chain disruption, driving the average spot dry-van truckload rate up to $1.98 per mile last week, according to load-matching service DAT.

The DAT national average dry van spot market rate stayed at its $1.97 per mile high last week, as more severe winter storms snarled supply chains from the Gulf Coast to the Northeast and inland.