Trucking News

Economic indicators and mid-year reports show contract truckload rates still trending downward, with a truckload recovery proving to be slow going.

The intermodal logistics provider said it will change its business model as state and federal laws make it more difficult to classify drivers as independent contractors.

Large truckload providers have been jettisoning trucks at an historic pace in an imbalanced market, but they are making more efficient use of their remaining trucks.

Large LTL trucking companies including XPO, Saia, ODFL and Knight-Swift are increasing volumes by diversifying and going deeper into shipper supply chains as they add customers.

Uber Freight is managing a growing internal LTL network within Canada and cross-border trade, and others are looking for ways to create “alternative” LTL services.

The takeover of Los Angeles-based Dependable Highway Express (DHE) allows Knight-Swift to reach 70% of the US population with its LTL services.

The sale of European Surface Transportation to German-based brokerage sennder is part of a drive to strengthen operations that C.H. Robinson considers core to its business.

Saia, Knight-Swift and other LTL carriers are moving ahead with plans to open terminals once owned by bankrupt Yellow, despite higher costs.

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.

More business from logistics partners and retailers helped increase daily shipment count for the second-largest US LTL provider, but year-over-year comps are about to get tougher.

Shrinking inventories have helped drive up warehouse vacancy rates and decreased utilization, but signs that demand is building point to a tightening market.

Carriers such as J.B. Hunt Transport Services are pressing shippers for more detailed forecasts as they look to realign capacity and demand. 

The third-largest US less-than-truckload provider is expanding its service centers along the US-Mexico border, anticipating an increase in northbound industrial freight. 

Pitt Ohio is the latest LTL carrier to announce additional next-day lanes as the redistribution of former Yellow terminals creates opportunities to speed freight.

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.

As FedEx Freight increases revenue and profitability, the transportation and logistics company is considering potential steps to “unlock sustainable shareholder value.”

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

US importers are pulling forward orders to avoid potential congestion, but trucking and intermodal networks are still slack, speakers said at the launch of CSCMP’s State of Logistics report.

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. 

Saia’s 18.6% year-over-year gain in LTL shipments in May underscores the ongoing impact of Yellow’s bankruptcy, while larger ODFL reports smaller “Yellow-free” gains in volume.

Yellow still has 130 terminals that could be sold, but they’re not quite ready for the auction block, bankruptcy court testimony revealed this week.

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

Earnings records show several big LTL carriers are expanding their tractor and trailer fleets in the post-Yellow market to keep pace with terminal expansion.

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.

The intermodal logistics provider is ramping up transloading capabilities in the US Southeast to meet increased demand from importers.

The issue of whose chassis to use to haul a container remains unclear as more truckers opt to use their own, but ocean carriers and pools also look to supply the market.

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.

Like many of its LTL competitors, XPO is using former Yellow terminals to build density in major freight markets such as Baltimore-Washington, D.C.

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.