LTL freight volumes and tonnage are increasing year over year in the fourth quarter, but the pandemic’s latest waves could slow growth until COVID-19 vaccines become available.
Thursday December 3, 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
Dec 3, 2020 4:00PM EST
Dec 10, 2020 2:00PM EST
News & Analysis
01 Dec 2020
Flock Freight, which uses software to aggregate less-than-truckload (LTL) shipments into multi-stop truckloads, has received more than $100 million to expand its alternative to the hub-and-spoke model.
27 Nov 2020
Automation, self-invoicing bolster traditional third-party payment audit model
20 Nov 2020
The 95-year-old founder of A-P-A Transport helped define LTL trucking in the regulatory era, before establishing NY Waterway.
17 Nov 2020
Shippers will need to look not just at multiple transportation modes, but across modes, to secure capacity in 2021, digital broker Loadsmart said.
13 Nov 2020
Higher pay is just a starting point for the solution to a resurgent driver shortage, J.B. Hunt’s Shelley Simpson tells the JOC Inland Distribution Webcast. Greater efficiencies, more shipper cooperation are key to improving driver jobs.
05 Nov 2020
An ‘insatiable demand’ for truck capacity and a US loan are helping LTL operator YRC Worldwide expand capacity and intermodal services in the Central-South.
26 Oct 2020
More large goods are being sold online and delivered by LTL carriers such as Southeastern Freight Lines, as retailers seek multiple capacity options to reach consumers
14 Oct 2020
The long run-up in spot market truckload rates and truck freight demand may be reaching its peak, but don’t expect a quick descent, speakers at the Transplace Shipper Symposium said Wednesday.
08 Oct 2020
As capacity tightens at the US-Mexico border, truckload carrier CFI is building a series of consolidation centers to expand its efforts to capture Mexico-bound less-than-truckload freight and provide shippers with more capacity.
06 Oct 2020
The purchase of Value Logistics gives Forward a bigger intermodal presence in the South-Central distribution hub as freight volumes of all types rise, said CEO Tom Schmitt.
01 Oct 2020
The new rate differential tracked by DAT chief scientist Chris Caplice is rising at a faster pace, a sign that shippers will see a greater increase in truckload contract rates.
28 Sep 2020
Rising local trucking employment in the US and higher pricing highlights a shifting balance in transportation networks accelerated by double-digit growth in e-commerce sales.
24 Sep 2020
US shippers are returning to the ‘shipper of choice’ model as a peak season unlike any other looms ahead, trucking executives told the virtual CSCMP 2020 Edge conference this week.
17 Sep 2020
A new integrated distribution center just outside Hagerstown, Maryland, will position regional LTL carrier A. Duie Pyle for greater growth in Virginia and along the I-70 and I-81 corridors as freight demand approaches 2019 levels.
16 Sep 2020
The acquisition of CLW Delivery gives expedited trucking operator Forward Air custom final-mile delivery services and new territory, as its LTL and final-mile businesses converge.
09 Sep 2020
US for-hire trucking companies are rehiring truck drivers at a rate slower than the acceleration of freight demand, contributing to rising pressure on truck rates and US shippers.
03 Sep 2020
The flood of imports to Los Angeles and Long Beach this summer is squeezing truckload and LTL capacity on inland truck routes, more than doubling spot rates to Chicago, as intermodal capacity and e-commerce deadlines remain tight.
02 Sep 2020
Less-than-truckload shipments and tonnage at Saia in August were about where they were a year ago, when the carrier already was growing faster than its LTL competitors. That underscores broader LTL growth.
25 Aug 2020
After selling its last remaining non-LTL subsidiaries, Roadrunner Transportation plans to shorten transit times on more lanes, improve service, and win over LTL shippers and drivers.
20 Aug 2020
With record parcel volumes expected to continue into the holiday peak season, carriers are implementing surcharges to manage demand while shippers struggle to secure capacity and mitigate costs.
14 Aug 2020
The largest US and Canadian truckload and LTL carriers have grown substantially over the last decade, despite short-term economic woes, according to data from SJ Consulting Group.
13 Aug 2020
With a new integrated distribution center in Massachusetts and another under construction in Pennsylvania, northeastern regional LTL carrier A. Duie Pyle is resuming expansion plans interrupted by COVID-19.
11 Aug 2020
With volume returning, less-than-truckload operators are putting more pressure on shippers to raise rates.
10 Aug 2020
Companies able to field large numbers of trucks are no longer cutting back, but with high demand, additional capacity will come at a price to shippers.
07 Aug 2020
Supply chain disruption and the spread of COVID-19 may have limited carrier ability to add drivers and other employees last month, despite heightened demand.
05 Aug 2020
The disruption and dislocation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic puts a premium on shipper visibility into LTL networks via digitization, as well as “touchless” pickups and deliveries.
04 Aug 2020
The less-than-truckload (LTL) industry is catching the wave of digitization transforming supply chains, as e-commerce heightens shipper demand for improved service and visibility.
04 Aug 2020
Uber Freight and CH Robinson announced links with accounting and ad hoc project software providers, a sign they need to extend their range of services to reach pools of small shippers.
30 Jul 2020
Amid reports of tightening LTL capacity, ODFL, ArcBest’s ABF Freight, and XPO look to put more distance between their businesses and April’s steep decline in volume.
30 Jul 2020
Facing record US domestic volumes due to a surge in e-commerce deliveries, parcel, trucking, and third-party logistics provider in May implemented a temporary peak surcharge on some ground residential and SurePost deliveries as well as large packages.
28 Jul 2020
The spin-off of its third-party logistics business allows Roadrunner Transportation Systems to concentrate on rebuilding and expanding its less-than-truckload business.
27 Jul 2020
As freight volumes rise, expedited LTL operator Forward Air is expanding capacity by 30 percent at the heart of its airport-to-airport network in Columbus, Ohio.
23 Jul 2020
More door-to-door, less-than-truckload freight will add revenue and freight density to Forward Air’s airport-to-airport lanes and create new final-mile opportunities, the company’s CEO says.
21 Jul 2020
Roadrunner Freight is adding new LTL terminals on two coasts and in Chicago, tightening its network as it wins more e-commerce freight and expands in a recession.
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