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The lack of sustained underlying freight demand is keeping contract truckload rates close to flat, analysts and shippers say, despite a late-year seasonal gain in spot rates.

It’s important for railroads to prevent export containers from clogging their terminals because domestic and international intermodal cargo share terminal space.

The acquisition is part of a surge in logistics M&A transactions aimed at simplifying access to systems and services for shippers and brokers.

The challenges for truck demand growth in 2025 vary depending on activity in four major sectors: warehousing, office, data centers and manufacturing, according to Jason Miller.

Pitt Ohio’s acquisition of Sutton Transport is the latest in a string of acquisitions rebuilding the LTL sector from the middle out, and more regional acquisitions are expected.

More uptake of transactional pricing in the less-than-truckload market is a sign that some carriers are targeting smaller or more infrequent LTL shippers.

Shippers must weigh the merits of a single-source relationship on drayage through key ports over splitting volume among regional and national carriers, or even brokers.

The LTL sector will try to hold its ground on pricing until improvements in US manufacturing lift demand.

Despite the kudos for railroads, some market players question the value of pandemic-era comparisons, suggesting that 2024’s peak season aligns more closely with pre-pandemic trends.

It’s difficult to imagine international intermodal growing much more, if at all, on the US West Coast in 2025.

The considerable intermodal ocean volumes that ordinarily would have moved in 2025 have likely been pulled forward into 2024, writes analyst Larry Gross.

Whether it be geopolitical crises, labor unrest or the wild card of a second Trump administration, the global supply chain will face no shortage of unknowns in 2025.

Disentangling FedEx’s LTL and parcel units will take time, but it will rearrange the less-than-truckload market — and most likely raise LTL shipping costs.

The largest US less-than-truckload provider is set to become a separate, independent company as FedEx pivots to focus on its parcel delivery business.

With a prolonged peak season, some non-asset-based intermodal marketing companies are reporting difficulties securing rail-owned containers and slots on trains in Chicago, Portland and Oakland over the past month.

Acquisitions, new product releases and fresh investment among companies catering to truckload brokers speak to an industry wrestling with the need to make things easier for customers.

DCLI equipping domestic chassis with GPS fills an information gap on when shippers sit on cargo excessively.

The opening of a second span across the Laredo border will benefit CPKC trains to Atlanta and Chicago along with other transport providers such as Union Pacific Railroad and its customers.

The acquisition of Trucker Tools will give DAT access to carrier positioning data to arm its truckload broker customers.

While US customers are importing more than usual, C.H. Robinson Worldwide’s CEO Dave Bozeman doesn’t see a ‘major material’ pull-forward of goods in the last weeks before a potential US longshore strike.

A lawsuit filed Thursday in US District Court alleges the fourth-largest US freight broker e Worldwide Express engaged in a campaign of retaliation with a former agent.

A 30% increase in the total value of transportation and logistics acquisitions over the last six months signals a stronger market for M&A emerging in 2025, PwC says in a market report.

A partnership between C.H. Robinson Worldwide and Highway seeks to push carrier ID systems deeper into truck brokerage networks as shippers demand action to prevent cargo theft by fraudsters.

The two companies, already building a temperature-controlled warehouse at the site of CPKC’s intermodal terminal in Kansas City, Missouri, are looking to replicate that business model south of the border.

The direct sale of 12 terminals to Estes and R+L Carriers accelerates repositioning among the largest LTL carriers ahead of an anticipated increase in demand in 2025.

For-hire trucking companies are adding workers again, but not enough to handle any big surge in freight volumes, as prospective employees look for more local jobs.

Rail executives assured investors that the availability of labor and other nearshoring opportunities in Mexico will keep North American trade strong, regardless of tariffs.

Generative AI is changing the nature of core freight brokerage processes, potentially impacting the amount brokers earn and how employees get paid.

Daily shipment counts decreased at most large LTL providers early in the quarter as freight demand slowed and carriers remained choosy about what they hauled.

Freight brokers large and small are testing software, including the tools developed by Vooma, that automate core functions such as quoting, load building and tracking.

A dispute in Canada has all the hallmarks of a similar case in the US over what qualifies as a chassis made in China.

A host of factors can raise transit times on the 11,000-plus-kilometer rail network, undermining the trust of cargo owners that is a crucial selling point of the Asia-Europe connection.

Rising regional trade along the old Silk Road between China and Europe is driving up containerized rail volume on the middle corridor and the logistics infrastructure is struggling to keep up.

The selection of Oregon Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer is seen as favorable to unions, with the new administration potentially facing the need to intervene if ILA contract talks aren’t settled before Trump takes office.

The $390 million deal for Cowan will boost Schneider’s dedicated trucking segment to 8,400 tractors, representing 70% of its total fleet.

The acquisition of a majority stake in Roadrunner by an investment group sets the stage for further growth at the carrier as the LTL sector readies for expansion in 2025.

General rate increases ranging from 4.9% to 7.9% are setting expectations for higher contract pricing as less-than-truckload carriers attempt to recoup the costs of network expansion.

While some shippers say they are still facing a measure of disruption, CSX says it has recovered following a rough patch in keeping cargo flowing through central Florida after hurricanes Helene and Milton battered the state.

A dearth of consolidation means there are still plenty of visibility vendors for shippers to choose from, but it also means the market as a whole is on somewhat unsteady ground.

Brokers would have to make transaction records, including shipper rates, available to trucking companies electronically and the requirements could supersede non-disclosure agreements, according to a proposed rule from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.