Surface

Supply chain risk-focused technology provider Overhaul has channeled demand for reducing exposure to cargo theft into a $38 million funding round just a few weeks after acquiring competitor SensiGuard.

Technology startup Qualle is trying to overcome drayage industry inertia around matching empty import boxes with export loads outside of ports by using early-stage funding to serve every North American port market.

Several US shippers tell the Journal of Commerce they are getting rate concessions from their less-than-truckload carriers, but the price cuts are far from universal and may depend on how shippers bid.

The last two years were highly profitable for the largest US truckload carriers, but 2023 promises to be a tougher time as rates and volumes decline.

Transloading is gaining popularity even as US imports have cooled in recent months, but shippers should weigh the pros and cons of transferring ocean containers into domestic boxes, TPM23 attendees were told.

Canadian National will grow its capacity based on the assumption that China will remain the biggest sourcing country for North America while acknowledging the shift under way into Southeast Asia, India, and potentially Africa that could fuel cargo through eastern Canada, its CEO told TPM23.

The policy — known informally as the “no cherry picking” rule — prohibited trucking companies from coming into terminals with private chassis when there were no pool chassis available.

Fritz did not elaborate on what role the activist investor played in his decision to step aside, but the announcement came shortly after Soroban Capital wrote that “current [UP] management is not capable of driving a strong operating performance.”

Volume declines are forcing intermodal providers to stack containers, unable to find cargo to fill the boxes because shippers have too much inventory, while trucking prices are so low that the freight is moving on highways.

An actual decrease in truck tonnage last month was masked by a seasonal adjustment to an American Trucking Associations index, but US freight volumes aren’t yet on the road to recovery.

With just under $50 billion in fresh investments unveiled last year for electric vehicle manufacturing plants in North America, ports in the Southeast and along the Gulf Coast are expecting additional volumes to soon be moving across their docks.

Less-than-truckload (LTL) pricing may moderate in 2023 after two gangbuster years for carriers, but shippers shouldn’t expect a rapid retreat after broad-based gains.

Official data shows overall volumes on the China-Europe rail network rose 6 percent last year over the then-record throughput handled in 2021, but there is no distinction between cargo destined for Europe or Russia.

Union Pacific is changing operations at its terminal outside Chicago in a bid to prevent future disruption by creating stacks for containers arriving from California, a move that will affect tens of thousands of ocean boxes per month.

Freight coordination software provider Leaf Logistics is working with a number of shippers and truckload carriers to build flexible, dedicated fleets to allow for continuous moves in big US markets.

Despite better-than-expected factory output in January, the manufacturing spigot that releases shipping demand simply isn’t turning fast enough and retail inventories remain stubbornly high.

WiseTech Global is doubling down on its reach into US intermodal networks with its $414 million purchase of Blume Global three weeks after acquiring drayage tech provider Envase.

Long-haul rail freight in Europe, the main alternative to road transport, is being undermined as the cost of electricity far outstrips diesel, say combined transport stakeholders.

Demand for flatbed tractor-trailers is rising along the Gulf Coast and Southeast, buoyed by project cargo, shifting freight patterns, and a warmer-than-normal winter, DAT Freight & Analytics says.

Lower rates and ample capacity are drawing more freight to the US truckload sector, particularly the dedicated and contract markets, according to the Cass Freight Index report.

Mobile’s inland intermodal reach is getting a boost from a planned $60 million investment by APM Terminals into the port’s container railyard.

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.