Surface

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.

The merger of third-party logistics provider Omni and expedited less-than-truckload (LTL) carrier Forward Air will create a more multimodal LTL network focused on high-value freight.

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.

Yellow lost money in its last six months as shippers moved freight elsewhere and non-operating expenses, including debt payments and interest, consumed shrinking operating profits.

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

Regardless of where demand for intermodal and truckload freight transport moves over the coming months, the industry holds the key to its destiny in its own hands, writes analyst Larry Gross. 

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.

Shipment volume at the third-largest LTL carrier in the US jumped nearly 9% in July from a year ago and 3.2% from June as shippers moved freight away from rival carrier Yellow.

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

The number of large US less-than-truckload carriers is shrinking, but the remaining operators are more profitable, have higher revenues and play a bigger role in customer’s supply chains.

Hedging and short selling made Yellow a “meme stock” early this week, but experts say rumors of a comeback are as wildly misplaced as investors’ cash.

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. 

The loss of the third-largest US less-than-truckload carrier is hitting a broad tranche of smaller, less-sophisticated shippers hard as they struggle with volatile rate hikes, logistics providers say.

Familiar reminders of the disruptions to supply chains caused by climate change, such as low water levels on the Rhine River and in the Panama Canal and wildfires in North America, are becoming more frequent and intense.

A challenging operating environment pulled down revenue and earnings at DHL, but the Germany-based integrator remains in a highly profitable position ahead of an uncertain second half.

US shippers gained some security in the LTL market as Teamsters at TForce approved a new contract with the LTL carrier.

The third-largest less-than-truckload provider in the US stopped operations Sunday, cutting into industrywide excess capacity and increasing pressure on pricing for LTL shipments. 

Word of layoffs among non-union staff at Yellow spread Friday, and shippers report less-than-truckload (LTL) pricing is already moving higher in anticipation of a shutdown of the third-largest US LTL carrier.

In its latest attempt to avert a potential bankruptcy, unionized trucking company Yellow is trying to raise funds through the sale of Yellow Logistics.

The FMC commissioner wants to implement uniform empty return dates and define “container availability” as when the container is available for pick up, among other proposals.

Yellow says its talks with the Teamsters union are “ongoing,” but the less-than-truckload carrier needs to keep customers to stay alive.

Freight volumes were down almost 12% in the second quarter at Old Dominion Freight Line, but the less-than-truckload carrier says it will continue to reinvest in capacity.

After UP’s 2022 performance failed to meet the expectations of shareholders, an activist investor called for current CEO Lance Fritz to be replaced by Vena, who had previously served as the railroad’s chief operating officer.

CN said it will take up to eight weeks to clear the cargo backlog at the ports of Vancouver and Prince Rupert as the industry waits to see if ILWU Canada’s rank and file will accept terms of the tentative deal reached last week.

Teamster local leaders endorsed a new five-year pact with LTL carrier TForce Freight, while the union eyes talks with Yellow.

A tentative agreement removes the threat of a disruptive strike that would have roiled supply chains, giving UPS Teamsters several weeks to vote on the new contract.

Several large LTL carriers, including XPO and Estes, are adding terminals as freight flows change and customers shift business among carriers as questions linger over Yellow’s future.

The company expects a slight increase in truckload demand during the peak season amid uncertainty about the duration of the freight recession and the potential impact of Yellow's financial troubles.

The desire to improve rail and intermodal visibility for bulk and breakbulk customers has led transportation management software provider IntelliTrans to partner with hardware vendor Nexxiot.

That mismatch between container supply and demand has forced intermodal providers to stack boxes, with J.B. Hunt saying it parked about 18% of its container fleet in the first half of the year.

The missed payment erases a measure of optimism that existed after creditors, including the US government, last week gave Yellow more time to resolve its restructuring dispute with the Teamsters in return for heightened financial oversight.

DAT and freight broker Convoy had challenged each other in federal court over business practices related to Convoy attempting to set up a rival load board.

Truckstop is building on its 2022 purchase of carrier monitoring provider RMIS with the acquisition of freight-matching technology provider FrieightFriend.

A Teamsters strike against UPS Aug. 1 and a shutdown of Yellow are not inevitable, but shippers are bracing for disruption and higher costs.

Truckers are having difficulty locating available chassis in Chicago because many units have been taken off the street to be serviced after heavy usage over the last two years.

DHL will spend hundreds of millions of dollars in the region over the next five years as the company targets customers looking to globalize their business and diversify sourcing.

US businesses may have passed the inventory peak, but data shows stockpiles remain high, and a weak wholesale retail market is depressing imports and surface freight shipments.

Three new visibility products — from a hardware provider, a forwarder and a data provider — are evidence of a diverse cargo visibility market that is expanding options for shippers.

Yellow’s lenders, including the US government, gave the company short-term waivers for certain loan conditions, extending its “runway” for winning Teamster support for a restructuring plan.

The problems flared in recent weeks after Ocean Network Express shifted a vessel service out of Jacksonville’s other primary container terminal, Dames Point, causing a volume imbalance between the two terminals.