Truckload

The largest US freight broker is trying to eliminate the wait at the gate by not only scheduling truck appointments for shippers, but finding optimal appointment times. 

Truckload spot rates are creeping higher, but trucking executives see no catalyst for stronger price increases absent higher freight demand, even as capacity slowly tightens. 

A pilot version of a truck appointment scheduling API is part of the hunt for new digital standards for supply chains that are still encumbered by manual processes.

The largest US broker and forwarder expects ocean spot rates to subside after the Chinese New Year and for US trucking markets to slowly improve throughout 2024.

The largest US truckload operator is “filling the gaps” in its less-than-truckload network with newly acquired terminals it plans to bring online this year, and is shopping in more locations. 

Excluding the period immediately following COVID-19 lockdowns, manufacturing activity in the US is at levels that haven’t been seen since 2011 when manufacturers were still recovering from the 20% drop in output caused by the global financial crisis.

Growing shipper preference for longer-term contracts shows they believe the truckload market has hit bottom and are concerned about late-2024 capacity, analysts say. 

Shipper-paid spot rates rose only marginally in December and are likely to stay close to the bottom established over the last six months, absent a sharp increase in demand.

With the market still replete with carriers and trucks, shippers can expect to keep pricing power for most of 2024.

Trucking groups will be lining up to challenge a Labor Department rulemaking that will change guidelines used to determine when a worker is a contractor or employee.

Larger trucking employers may be reluctant to lay off workers ahead of what they hope will be an uptick in freight demand this coming spring or summer. 

The biggest trucking acquisition of 2023 gives Canada’s TFI an additional $1.8 billion in annual revenue and nearly 20 operating subsidiaries hauling oversized, heavy freight.

Cost and long implementation timelines are among the reasons software has been out of reach for smaller shippers, brokers and carriers, a dynamic that newer solutions providers are attempting to change.

Not all industry analysts believe a surge in demand is necessary for US truckload rates to rise in 2024, but some say capacity levels remain too high for a big move upward.

As US port volumes remain lackluster, there is not as much freight to move on trucks, causing the market to stay relatively stagnant ahead of what typically is the busy holiday season.

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.

The CO2 charge on commercial vehicles is aimed at incentivizing the use of green fuels and lower-emissions trucks, but it will come at a significant cost to the road haulage industry.

Although small trucking firms are folding, there is still a large supply of carriers and trucks keeping a lid on pricing amid soft demand. 

The need for greater supply chain stability, not just control over on-time service, is driving growth in the number of private fleets run by shippers even in a time of cheap truck rates.

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. 

It is unlikely that supply and demand for dry van trucking will reach an equilibrium before the second quarter of 2024, and that is likely an optimistic date, writes analyst Jason Miller.

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.

US truckload shippers are showing more “sensitivity” to supply and service issues, supporting a new spot market pricing floor but not giving rates much lift, according to trucking and logistics executives.

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.”

While sudden, the impact of Convoy shutting its business should be muted in a truckload brokerage market where shippers have access to low spot rates and plentiful capacity.

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.

State truck inspections are adding to existing problems clearing rising amounts of freight entering the US from Mexico as migrant numbers arriving at the US border surge.

The bidding process needs to be “revolutionized” to save shippers money, with more emphasis on strategic relationships, speakers said at the NITL Engage Conference.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

The US economy is improving, but the gains in recent months haven’t translated into additional freight, nor an additional surge in trucking employment.

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.

US truckload carrier executives say they don’t see any signs that freight demand will pick back up until the end of 2023.

Schneider's acquisition of M&M Transport underscores the ongoing popularity of dedicated transportation among shippers and carriers, even in an era of excess truckload capacity.