Surface

Shippers are still tendering approximately the same number of shipments, but they’re shipping less freight per shipment, the head of expedited LTL carrier Forward Air says.

Smaller trucking firms are leaving the market at a faster rate, but plenty of truckload capacity remains, especially at larger fleets that are just short of record truck counts.

Meeting the EU road emissions targets will not be achieved by focusing exclusively on electric vehicles, with the combustion engine likely to play a significant role over the next two decades.

Primarily an industrial transportation sector, the LTL business is moving into retail and is also becoming more involved in transloading at US port cities. 

Analysts have told the Journal of Commerce they expect spot market pricing to bottom out and remain flat for some time before rising again, most likely at a slow pace.

Freight visibility provider Overhaul has acquired a competitor that doubles its size and gives it deeper cargo monitoring capability in Brazil, Mexico, and Central Europe.

Courier, trucking, and warehousing firms lost workers last month, but the seasonal surge and purge was more muted than expected, reflecting broader labor market resilience.

Smaller US truckload carriers and the companies that provide them with access to working capital are under increasing pressure as cargo demand slows.

The largest US logistics provider claims “compelling results” from cross-selling surface transportation and air and ocean services, despite weak market conditions.

Old Dominion Freight Line “has its fingers crossed” that the decline in less-than-truckload volumes is turning and an increase in freight demand will be seen in March or the second quarter.

Shippers saved less than in prior quarters on their intermodal contracts to close 2022, setting up a race to the bottom this year to keep freight on the rails.

Technology that connects and automates packages, trucks, and sorting facilities will come to the fore at UPS this year as the largest US logistics provider positions itself for an economic rebound.

Norfolk Southern’s plan to bring more capacity to its international intermodal business this year has kicked off with new cranes enabling the stacking of marine containers at its Austell ramp in Georgia.

An expedited linehaul service using team drivers will cut transit times connecting Pitt Ohio’s eastern territory with California within three days. 

US Class I railroads are taking steps to address quality-of-life issues for their employees, including reducing on-call positions, avoiding furloughs, and introducing more flexible working structures.

The promise of economic improvement in the second half of this year and 2024 has LTL trucking companies adding terminals, doors, and services despite the current slowdown.

Investors see drayage as an area rife for technological improvement, with software provider PortPro the latest startup to secure funding to empower port truckers.

The need for shippers to contextualize freight status data led visibility provider FourKites to build a data connectivity tool for enterprise shippers.

The approximately 72-hour repair on a bridge in New Mexico would appear to mitigate what could potentially have been a major disruption for UP’s international and domestic intermodal shippers.

Demand for flatbed trucks on DAT Freight & Analytics’ spot load boards is at a seven-year low for January, creating excess capacity that is keeping pressure on rates. 

Some Virginia state legislators are looking to fund a second inland port, but the project’s prospects hinge on railroad and shipper demand, according to a study.

The expansion of truck parking along US highways is a primary objective of the "SHIP IT" act, along with providing incentives to attract and retain more drivers.

An outage involving a bridge in New Mexico in the heart of Union Pacific’s network is causing major delays for intermodal and automotive shippers between Southern California and two major inland hubs.

The Class I railroad vowed it would focus on providing better service to shippers in 2023 and move to heal wounds from tense labor negotiations by addressing quality-of-life issues affecting its workforce.

Truckload and LTL freight volumes have dropped, but a turn will come sometime in mid-2023, industry executives said at the SMC3 Jumpstart conference in Atlanta.

If inland rail ramps remain congested due to chassis shortages and discretionary imports continue to flow away from the West Coast to the East Coast, international intermodal volumes could decline for a second straight year.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services will focus on working with shippers to empty containers in a more expedited manner as freight is moving slower than ever with box turn ratios falling for four consecutive years.

Lower rates and abundant capacity should promote stability in the truckload market in 2023, but any semblance of normality is conditional, at best, until the broader US economy is on a more stable footing.

US dry-van spot rates appear to be stabilizing, but contract rates are dropping by double-digit percentages as new pricing and service agreements take effect.

Intermodal shippers are sitting on the sidelines until warehouses unclog and rail service improves, which will result in lower contract rates for shippers in 2023.

Less-than-truckload rates are rising despite economic headwinds as accessorials, general rate increases, and a trend toward higher freight rate classes support a high pricing floor.

The sharp increase in freight activity seen at the Port of Houston over the past year has prompted national drayage provider RoadOne IntermodaLogistics to acquire a Texas motor carrier.

The largest US family owned LTL trucking company is adding terminals, including one in Southern California, as Webb Estes moves into the president’s office. 

As consumer buying patterns return to a more normal mix of goods and services in 2023, domestic intermodal providers will have to find a way to fill a huge influx of boxes ordered during the pandemic.

The lingering congestion in Chicago and Kansas City comes despite a decrease in US imports and a relatively low volume of freight being transported inland by train.

The acquisition of competitor Land Air Express expands Forward Air’s nationwide ground airport-to-airport network and capacity, Forward’s CEO says.

Shippers can expect some rate relief and improved LTL service in 2023 as demand softens and shipping patterns normalize, which for carriers will take some of the shine off the sector’s recent golden glow.

To better handle the next cargo surge, inland hubs need to own enough equipment so they can build and deconstruct container stacks while possessing the technology to plan for cargo retrieval.

The largest US point-to-point LTL carrier is speeding service from Southern California to Chicago, reducing the transit time to one to three business days as demand for velocity remains high.

Firms engaged in last-mile delivery hired fewer workers than expected in December, but still made big employment gains, while real trucking jobs in the US dropped in a typical seasonal pattern.