Regulators are expanding the area covered by the short-haul exemption to trucking hours of service rules, and that brings opportunities to drayage and e-commerce delivery carriers.
Friday May 29, 2020
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LTL Trucking Logistics
LTL Trucking Logistics
News pertaining to the transportation and logistics services provided by LTL (Less than truckload shipping or less than load (LTL) carriers, which transport relatively small freight. The alternatives to LTL carriers are parcel carriers or full truckload carriers. Parcel carriers usually handle small packages and freight that can be broken down into units less than 150 pounds (68 kg). Full truckload carriers move freight that is loaded into a semi-trailer. Semi-trailers are typically between 26 and 53 feet (7.92 and 16.15 m) and require a substantial amount of freight to make such transportation economical
Finally, the most commonly referenced LTL are shipments via “common” carriers that handle freight above what would normally ship via FedEx Ground, or UPS or U.S. Mail parcel services (about 150 pounds), to just under what would usually be considered a Truck Load at about 20,000 pounds or more than 14 pallets. LTL common carriers are also more likely to accept loose (non-palletized) cargo than the other two. The biggest of the LTL “Common” Carriers are the Freight divisions of FedEx and UPS, and YRC Freight (Formerly Yellow Freight and Roadway). Other large national carriers include YRC, FedEx Freight, or UPS Freight, such as: Old Dominion Freight Lines, Saia, or Estes-Express to name a few.
Top 25 LTL Trucking Companies
Webcasts
May 28, 2020 2:00PM EDT
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News & Analysis
14 May 2020
The new final US hours-of-service rule gives truckers more flexibility in how they use their daily hours, but shippers get a gift of capacity that could help extend their pricing power.
12 May 2020
YRC Worldwide says a double-digit drop in freight volume will accelerate efforts to consolidate its less-than-truckload networks while keeping its individual carrier brands.
08 May 2020
The recession caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has erased years of trucking employment gains, bringing payroll headcounts below 2006 levels, US data shows.
06 May 2020
A 9 percent boost in organic last-mile revenue signals more consumers are purchasing goods, including heavy goods, at home, a trend XPO’s CEO thinks could be permanent.
05 May 2020
A survey by two US trucking organizations reveals a shift in capacity to shorter haul lanes as the COVID-19 pandemic rapidly changes trucking markets and the mix of freight.
28 Apr 2020
The COVID-19 pandemic has flipped UPS’s business, with nearly 70 percent of package volume now residential. That means more mileage, more stops, and more costs.
27 Apr 2020
Trucking companies large and small are focused on getting through the next month or two, after which they hope freight volumes will begin to recover. But that recovery may be a long one.
24 Apr 2020
A new international distribution center in Houston blends US trucking and containerized imports as less-than-truckload carrier Averitt reaches deeper into US consumer markets.
22 Apr 2020
An American Transportation Research Institute analysis of vehicle location data across six states shows trucking activity plummeting 8 to 10 percent in April as the COVID-19 lockdown spread across the US.
21 Apr 2020
Daimler and Volvo will combine efforts to develop hydrogen fuel-cell technology for heavy electric trucks to meet future emissions and shipper sustainability targets.
20 Apr 2020
Job losses, damage to small business shippers, and diminished expectations for a fast restart for truck freight push pandemic recovery into 2021.
16 Apr 2020
XPO Logistics CEO Bradley S. Jacobs believes the US and global economies will recover in “fits and starts” in the second half of 2020, and supply chains will become more resilient.
15 Apr 2020
Detention is a problem for truckers in the best of times. It’s worse amid the pandemic as shippers handle high volumes with fewer dock and warehouse workers available.
10 Apr 2020
YRC Worldwide can breathe easier as its creditors waive restrictions on EBITDA, cash payments. An activist investor, however, wants to force change at the company.
07 Apr 2020
Regional carrier A. Duie Pyle is cutting wages from the top and asking for volunteers to take temporary furloughs as COVID-19 ravages freight volumes in the Northeast.
06 Apr 2020
Trucking companies need plans to keep their drivers healthy, financially whole, and on the road amid the coronavirus outbreak. They need plans for when they get sick, too.
06 Apr 2020
The 50 largest US trucking operators in the United States saw revenue growth throttle back considerably in 2019, but 2020 is shaping up to be even worse.
02 Apr 2020
US trucking companies are preparing to brake hard once the current surge of essential freight fades. The loss of demand and capacity will complicate the eventual recovery.
02 Apr 2020
The world of LTL is slow to embrace change. Business anachronisms permeate current supply chain processes. These vestiges of the way things used to work define the LTL freight transportation procurement process of many modern shippers.
26 Mar 2020
Demand for essential goods and medical supplies is drawing truck capacity even as business shutdowns dry up other sources of freight, a trend that could result in displaced capacity.
25 Mar 2020
Truck drivers can both drive and work beyond regulatory limits if they’re hauling essential goods during the COVID-19 pandemic, and shippers need to do whatever they can to make that easier.
18 Mar 2020
Truck capacity is being tightened in drive-thru-sized bites as restaurant and rest stop closings delay drivers.
16 Mar 2020
As COVID-19 response unfolds, restricted business operating hours, potential closures could complicate deliveries, solidifying a soft trucking market.
12 Mar 2020
In picking former Home Depot CFO Carol Tomé as CEO, UPS puts a former customer from retail e-commerce leader in the driver’s seat.
11 Mar 2020
Long-haul LTL carrier YRC Freight is expanding a next-day service offering in Texas, where its parent company previously had no regional footprint.
11 Mar 2020
Truck demand and spot rates are rising as consumers stockpile goods amid the spread of the coronavirus, but truckers worry about potential loss of work due to quarantines.
09 Mar 2020
Shippers with an eye on instability in US markets are considering innovative contract terms, including the use of volume guarantees and flexible rates.
09 Mar 2020
Compared with the freight boom of 2018, last year was disappointing for US less-than-truckload carriers, but pricing discipline allow the largest operators to maintain — and in some cases increase — their top line revenue.
05 Mar 2020
The coronavirus outbreak will amplify pricing and capacity swings in US trucking this year, and logistics experts warn that will mean a price shock for shippers.
04 Mar 2020
US business activity stumbled in February, according to IHS Markit, perhaps in part due to the new coronavirus disease. That put more pressure on less-than-truckload shipping volumes.
03 Mar 2020
The FMCSA is sending undisclosed changes to truck driver hours of service (HOS) rules to the White House for approval, raising hopes for greater flexibility in truck scheduling.
03 Mar 2020
XPO Logistics’ founder and CEO plans to use money from the sale of non-trucking business units to increase technology spending at its less-than-truckload (LTL) operations, with a focus on pricing.
25 Feb 2020
Spot truck rates out of Los Angeles are weaker than usual, thanks in part to the coronavirus that has interrupted freight flows from China. Will restocking spark a pricing whiplash this spring?
18 Feb 2020
Truck tonnage increased for the second straight month in January, but a weak manufacturing sector and high inventories are keeping a lid on freight demand.
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Commentary
The truth about dimensional pricing for LTL