Surface

Microsoft continues to build on its position as a provider of web services to the logistics industry via an expanded relationship with C.H. Robinson, North America’s largest freight broker.

By launching a door-to-door, less-than-truckload business in Savannah, Forward Air is adding more freight and building density in its airport-to-airport network.

US land-based heavy transport has largely been able to continue during the COVID-19 pandemic thanks to its designation as an essential service, but like other parts of the project supply chain, the sector could see waning demand as the oil and gas industry pulls back on capital expenditures.

With COVID-19 flare-ups endangering reopenings across the country, the road to recovery for US shippers and transportation providers will likely look more like a mountain switchback than a sharp incline.

Banyan Technology believes pricing intelligence tools will give less-than-truckload carriers more profits and shippers more savings, changing relationships and contracting.

US Payroll Protection Program loans, once forgiven, will give small trucking outfits a chance to invest in much-needed technology, a tax and accounting advisory firm says.

Escalating losses from weak demand and an uncertain — and uneven — recovery are pushing European trucking companies to the edge, a new report shows.

Uber Freight has expanded its network of transportation management system integrations by piping its instantly available capacity into the Blue Yonder freight execution system.

A large chunk of the US trucking sector is riding on Payroll Protection Program loans, which likely averted a capacity crunch in June and may still be shielding shippers this fall.

Intermodal shippers are increasingly putting pressure on 3PLs to waive container fees as a precondition for business amid the coronavirus-linked recession.

A founder with lineage in the freight optimization space has started a new technology provider to help trucking companies better account for unknown variables in their network planning.

Shippers are rethinking both long-term and short-term truckload contracting and pricing strategies as freight levels rise from spring’s recessionary lows.

Shippers looking to cut costs should examine how much digital integration they have with their less-than-truckload (LTL) partners and whether their transportation and dock operations are as efficient as possible, panelists told JOC Uncharted.

The US government’s $700 million loan to YRC Worldwide guarantees LTL stability in an uncertain economy.

Unadjusted Labor Department employment numbers show motor carriers have recovered about 44 percent of the jobs lost from February to April.

The US CARES Act loan to YRC Worldwide keeps US military LTL shipments moving, and gives the US taxpayer a nearly 30 percent share in the company.

Bankrupt Comcar sells its dry-van and refrigerated trucking subsidiary to Canada’s largest transportation company, which is expanding its presence in the United States.

Spot rates have jumped more than 40 percent in the last four weeks for shippers using rail-owned boxes out of Los Angeles due to an equipment shortage in Southern California unseen since 2018.

Mexican businesses and their US and Canadian partners are focused on rebuilding supply chains shattered by COVID-19 and the recession, but they shouldn’t forget USMCA.

Shippers split between those growing during recession and those struggling need to focus on long-term supply-chain improvements to reduce costs, rather than short-term rate cuts.

BNSF Railway has unveiled a five-day per week train service between Seattle and CSX’s Ohio hub about an hour south of Toledo.

The pandemic-inspired shift to online shopping will have lasting effects on shippers’ transportation choices, according to the CSCMP State of Logistics Report.

Data2Logistics has been struggling through a system outage this week that is leaving its shipper customers unable to pay carriers through its platform.

Payroll Protection Program loans could keep struggling small trucking companies in business, and prevent a truck capacity crunch shippers fear — if enough carriers apply for them.

Moving refrigerated perishables by rail provides logistics providers with untapped market share potential if they can wade through a number of challenges, mostly linked to service.

The domestic supply chain is a perfect example of a sector that is in dire need of fortification, and it needs to begin with small, over-the-road carriers, the CEO of Transfix says.

This month’s seasonal burst of truck freight shipping is expected to fade after Independence Day, putting more pressure on small trucking operators struggling to stay on the road.

The addition of Gusgo Transport to its operating subsidiaries gives TFI deeper access to international containerized freight moving between the US and Canada.

Business is slowly coming back, but safety concerns will force changes in ways carriers, shippers operate, Pitt Ohio CEO Chuck Hammel says.

The focus of IPI has been moving away from the US West Coast toward the East Coast and Western Canada. This has big implications for individual railroads, but also broader impacts regarding shorter length of haul and diminishing industry revenue per move.

Intermodal is not seeing the same rebound in demand as trucking since the economic shutdown owing to the COVID-19 pandemic, and research firm FTR Associates does not believe containerized rail volume will fully recover to 2019 levels until sometime in 2021.

US businesses are rushing to develop a clearer picture of customer demand and freight capacity as they move beyond the early stages of reopening stores and factories.

Mexico’s exports in April dropped 41 percent year over year, the biggest one-month drop since the country’s 1986 fiscal crisis.

Economists with American Trucking Associations believe the US economy will contract this year at the highest rate since 1946, and that although numbers will look much better in the second half of 2020, it will be another 12 months until markets return to pre-COVID pandemic levels.

The US trucking sector added back a small portion of the jobs lost during March and April as businesses reopened, a sign that shipper demand for trucking services may be on the road to recovering from the COVID-19 recession.

Europe’s rail freight industry is hoping to hold on to improvements made in reliability on a passenger-free network even as the easing of lockdowns bring back traveler movements that are afforded priority over cargo.

Werner is the latest broker to use software from Trucker Tools to tap into the app provider’s reach into the North American small carrier and independent driver population.

Lower fuel prices are helping small trucking businesses survive the worst economy since the 1930s, according to Donald Broughton, which means shippers may find more truck capacity and less pricing pressure than expected this fall.

Shipments were down year over year in May at less-than-truckload carriers ODFL and Saia, but not by as much as in April, a sign the US industrial economy is beginning to improve.

The acquisition of ScanData gives Transplace broader supply chain reach as the COVID-19 pandemic accelerates e-commerce demand.