<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">The incoming CEO of XPO Logistics is intent on adding capacity in the form of terminals, trailers, and drivers to meet long-term demand for less-than-truckload services.</div>

The incoming CEO of XPO Logistics is intent on adding capacity in the form of terminals, trailers, and drivers to meet long-term demand for less-than-truckload services.

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<div>The US economic recovery may be slowing, but XPO Logistics is in expansion mode. The company has opened five new terminals with 345 doors in the past year, and it’s far from finished. By the end of 2023, XPO plans to add another 555 terminal doors, a 6 percent increase in its door count over three years.“In LTL [less-than-truckload], there is more demand building up than there is capacity being added to the market,” said Mario Harik, who will become CEO of XPO Logistics once the spinoff of its brokerage business is completed this year. “LTL over time will gain...

The US economic recovery may be slowing, but XPO Logistics is in expansion mode. The company has opened five new terminals with 345 doors in the past year, and it’s far from finished. By the end of 2023, XPO plans to add another 555 terminal doors, a 6 percent increase in its door count over three years. “In LTL [less-than-truckload], there is more demand building up than there is capacity being added to the market,” said Mario Harik, who will become CEO of XPO Logistics once the spinoff of its brokerage business is completed this year. “LTL over time will gain ground because of more demand from shippers across the board.” That demand may soften over the next year, pulling the LTL trendline down, but over the next several years demand is going to rise, Harik, president of LTL for XPO, told JOC.com in an interview Monday. “We’re very bullish about the industry long term and all the actions we’re taking now to add capacity in our network,” he said. That’s a change for a company that had been more focused on improving its operating ratio and profit margin since acquiring what was then Con-way Freight in 2015. XPO’s North American LTL operating ratio was 82.5 percent in the second quarter, and its adjusted ratio was 80.2 percent. As XPO enters a new phase, with founder Bradley S. Jacobs turning over the CEO keys for a role as executive chairman, the company’s actions and Harik’s statements indicate it’s time to not just get more profitable, but bigger. XPO is the fourth-largest LTL provider ranked by revenue, after FedEx Freight, Old Dominion Freight Line, and Yellow. According to SJ Consulting Group research, XPO has about an 8 percent share of the $51 billion LTL market. Three of those top four LTL companies have been adding terminals this year. Yellow has been cutting terminals as it reorganizes four subsidiaries into one multi-regional carrier. Estes, the fifth-largest US LTL provider and the largest privately owned LTL carrier, is building and adding doors nationwide as well. The Richmond, Virginia-based company added nearly 450 terminals doors in 2021, and recently expanded or opened terminals in Georgia, Texas, Oklahoma, and Louisiana. Shippers are noticing the growth. “We are seeing capacity come back in LTL, we’re getting calls from carriers every day,” said a shipper who did not want to be identified. Some of that capacity isn’t from new terminal doors or trucks, but a calmer market and more efficient freight flows after two years of disruption. LTL facilities are a long-term investment, however. They’re being built as much for tomorrow’s freight demand as for today’s shipments. Carriers don’t add hundreds of terminal doors — a common measure of LTL capacity — if they don’t expect more palletized freight to move through them. Chasing demand Harik and other LTL executives have a long-term vision driven by changing retail consumption and distribution patterns and an ongoing recovery in the US industrial sector. “Customers are shipping more small shipments and more SKUs (stock keeping units) of product are being produced,” he said. On top of that, “consumers expect goods to be closer to them,” Harik said. “With all of this happening, more products are flowing into the LTL business.” An increasing, though still comparatively small, number of those products are flowing straight from ocean containers into LTL terminals. Retail shipments are only a part of the LTL sector’s expansion. Two-thirds of XPO’s freight is industrial products, Harik said. US manufacturing output rose 0.7 percent in July after declining two straight months and was 3.2 percent above its year-earlier level, according to the Federal Reserve Board. Higher industrial output is helping to keep LTL trailers full. “There’s softness on the consumer side, but the industrial economy is still running lower than its pre-pandemic base,” Harik said. That means more room for expansion, especially if more near-shoring or reshoring of manufacturing occurs, he said. XPO’s newest terminals are located to meet that shipper demand, with facilities in Adelanto, California; Conley, Georgia; and Chicago Heights, where the carrier opened a 264-door terminal last October. “Every time we open a terminal the decision is based on where we’re seeing demand,” Harik said. The next consideration is where the freight represented by that demand is going to go. “A location like Atlanta is a major hub in the south, but it’s also a big area for shipping into Florida as well,” he said. “Expanding in Atlanta gives us more freight flow and helps optimize our network.” Doubling trailer production There’s more to LTL capacity than terminals and doors. XPO, which manufactures its own 28-foot and 48-foot trailers, is doubling trailer production this year. Harik plans to roll 4,700 trailers out of XPO’s manufacturing plant in Searcy, Arkansas. XPO is the only large LTL carrier building its own trailers. “We’ve added a new production line and a second shift because demand is so high,” Harik said. “All of our larger customers ask for dropped trailers [and are running trailer pools]. A key thing is how quickly they can turn these trailers, and we’re starting to see turn rates normalize.” Once the spinoff of XPO’s brokerage business is complete, all the company’s attention will go to LTL expansion. “We’re pivoting from a strategy of improving the margin to one of growth,” said Harik. “In the short term, we’re seeing softer demand, but over the long term, we see very strong demand.” Contact William B. Cassidy at bill.cassidy@spglobal.com and follow him on Twitter: @willbcassidy .

XPO isn’t braking for economic slowdown

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">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.</div>

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.

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<div class="phx-topic">Dynamic pricing tools are allowing less-than-truckload (LTL) shippers and brokers, especially smaller ones, to connect with LTL carriers looking for new sources of freight. That is widening the market reach for LTL carriers that have typically relied almost exclusively on contracts or general tariff rates for pricing. The incremental shift toward more spot pricing in the LTL market speaks less to titanic change in how shippers are procuring than it does about there being easier paths for certain LTL carriers to reach shippers directly. While the vast majority of LTL freight continues to move on shipper-specific contract pricing or more general pricing often used by brokers, there is an uptick in spot, or transactional, pricing in the LTL market, sources tell the Journal of Commerce. Some attribute this uptick primarily to the currently soft LTL market, with regular customers seeking competitive rates outside their contracts, or first-time LTL shippers or brokers using transactional rates to test the LTL waters. US LTL shipment volume in 2024 was relatively flat after a more than 6% drop in 2023, according to Satish Jindel, president of SJ Consulting Group. But digital tools are making transactional pricing easier for carriers to provide to customers, especially infrequent shippers or ones not accustomed to shipping LTL. “We are seeing and hearing of an increased demand and usage of transactional or spot LTL quotes both from discussions with carriers and 3PLs,” said Brian Thompson, chief commercial officer at SMC3, a trucking data and technology provider specializing in LTL pricing. <h3>APIs make LTL accessible </h3>Thompson said the increase in spot-quoted shipments is due to a boost in the availability of application programming interface (API)-based quoting, with more LTL carriers now offering this option for their customers to obtain spot quotes. Many shipper- and broker-focused transportation management systems (TMSs) now offer direct API connections to carriers. Additionally, a number of carriers are requiring or incentivizing their customers to come directly to them for a quote via API, especially 3PL partners offering transactional quotes, Thompson said. Spot quotes used to be limited to large LTL shipments weighing a minimum of 4,000 or 5,000 pounds, but in recent years carriers have expanded the use of those quoting methods to price transactional business from brokers, 3PLs, freight forwarders and small shippers, Thompson added. “Carriers are also starting to utilize more advanced pricing methodologies that incorporate prospective costing of individual shipments and an advanced business rules engine to price individual shipments with more certainty based on the carrier’s needs at the time of quote,” he said. Indeed, LTL carriers have even started to vacuum up shipments in the 500-pound ballpark that ordinarily would have been routed to parcel carriers. <h3>Targeting small shippers </h3>LTL carriers are looking for new customers and new sources of freight, including smaller shippers and even transloaded international freight. “In the last quarter we grew shipment count with small customers by more than 10%,” Mario Harik, CEO of XPO, the third-largest US LTL provider, told the Journal of Commerce. XPO has invested in technology, real estate and in its sales force, increasing its number of sales agents by 25% in 2024 to pursue smaller shippers, Harik said, adding contractual rates represent about 80% of XPO’s business. Shippers can obtain rate quotes based on pricing agreements directly from XPO’s website. The development of transactional pricing tools accomplishes a couple of key goals for certain LTL carriers. It lets them lure in shippers that would have been outside their traditional customer bases, either in terms of the size, number or frequency of shipments. Secondly, it lets carriers work directly with shippers, taking that business out of the hands of brokers. ”Carriers dynamically adjust these rates,” said Curtis Garrett, CEO of LTL technology provider RateHero and a consultant to the LTL industry. “It’s a lever they have to fill capacity.” Garrett said the newest transactional pricing development is that some carriers are using it as a quicker way to onboard customers, either direct to shipper or through small and midsized brokers. “It cuts down on the admin back and forth and length of time to get a new customer set up and quoting,” he said. “Some carriers are putting this in the hands of their sales reps when they go visit a prospect. They can set them up and turn pricing on for them on the spot, which means more business quicker, but it usually falls into that transactional or dynamic bucket.” Not all LTL carriers are going this route, however. An LTL carrier executive who asked not to be identified told the Journal of Commerce they’re not seeing any major shift away from contractual business but added that the carrier doesn’t encourage that type of business, either. The executive said brokers are getting a bit more transactional business and that some LTL freight that moved to full truckload when truckload rates were low may be shifting back to LTL in drips and drabs. “Everybody has a TMS now, and that makes tendering an irregular, smaller LTL shipment outside of a contract easier,” the source said. <h3>A more ‘layered’ market </h3>Wider access to TMSs, whether it’s a shipper TMS that can manage across multiple modes or an LTL carrier TMS through which dynamic pricing can be offered, is impacting the market. “The rapid acceleration of technology, particularly through TMSs that offer multiple rate options, has created new opportunities for smaller clients,” said Dean Jones, chief commercial officer at third-party logistics provider AFS Logistics. “These systems allow them to access competitive rates without the need for traditional contractual arrangements.” Jones said 3PLs are also luring shippers outside contractual rate structures through ancillary services, whether via access to diverse rate options, a bundled TMS, freight audit and payment (FAP) or fully managed transportation. “This bundled approach eliminates the need for individual rate negotiations and provides clients with a streamlined, end-to-end solution powered by transactional rates embedded within the broader program,” he said. Jones added, however, that the majority of AFS’s clients operate under so-called client-specific pricing (CSP) contracts. “Across our customer base we don’t see any transactional spot quoting happening with LTL carriers,” said Shannon Vaillancourt, CEO of RateLinx, which provides TMS and freight audit tools to shippers. “All of our customers are on contract rates and are rate-shopping between the carriers.” Vaillancourt said customers he spoke to about an increase in transactional rates were skeptical about relying on spot quotes. “They really like the certainty of their contract rates and also were very confident that their contract rates were the ‘best’ rate out there,” he said. The uptick in transactional rates then speaks to a more layered market, with some carriers embracing dynamic rate availability and others more than happy to rely wholly on contractual pricing for shippers. The emergence of MyCarrier, a technology platform that lets LTL carriers provide a digital quoting and booking interface direct to shippers, is an example of this evolution. Last Thursday, FreightWise announced a partnership to incorporate rates from LTL carrier Estes directly into its TMS and that of Kuebix, a shipper-oriented, LTL-focused TMS that FreightWise acquired in 2023. Garrett said his company is working with a few LTL carriers on streamlining the process to get small and midsized brokers set up so they can push volume to those LTL carriers. The intent is to use technology to offset the high cost and risk that carriers have historically seen with small or infrequent LTL customers due to poor data and shipping practices. Contact Eric Johnson at <a href="mailto:eric.johnson@spglobal.com">eric.johnson@spglobal.com</a>. Senior Editor William B. Cassidy contributed to this report. </div>

Dynamic pricing tools are allowing less-than-truckload (LTL) shippers and brokers, especially smaller ones, to connect with LTL carriers looking for new sources of freight. That is widening the market reach for LTL carriers that have typically relied almost exclusively on contracts or general tariff rates for pricing. The incremental shift toward more spot pricing in the LTL market speaks less to titanic change in how shippers are procuring than it does about there being easier paths for certain LTL carriers to reach shippers directly. While the vast majority of LTL freight continues to move on shipper-specific contract pricing or more general pricing often used by brokers, there is an uptick in spot, or transactional, pricing in the LTL market, sources tell the Journal of Commerce. Some attribute this uptick primarily to the currently soft LTL market, with regular customers seeking competitive rates outside their contracts, or first-time LTL shippers or brokers using transactional rates to test the LTL waters. US LTL shipment volume in 2024 was relatively flat after a more than 6% drop in 2023, according to Satish Jindel, president of SJ Consulting Group. But digital tools are making transactional pricing easier for carriers to provide to customers, especially infrequent shippers or ones not accustomed to shipping LTL. “We are seeing and hearing of an increased demand and usage of transactional or spot LTL quotes both from discussions with carriers and 3PLs,” said Brian Thompson, chief commercial officer at SMC3, a trucking data and technology provider specializing in LTL pricing. APIs make LTL accessible Thompson said the increase in spot-quoted shipments is due to a boost in the availability of application programming interface (API)-based quoting, with more LTL carriers now offering this option for their customers to obtain spot quotes. Many shipper- and broker-focused transportation management systems (TMSs) now offer direct API connections to carriers. Additionally, a number of carriers are requiring or incentivizing their customers to come directly to them for a quote via API, especially 3PL partners offering transactional quotes, Thompson said. Spot quotes used to be limited to large LTL shipments weighing a minimum of 4,000 or 5,000 pounds, but in recent years carriers have expanded the use of those quoting methods to price transactional business from brokers, 3PLs, freight forwarders and small shippers, Thompson added. “Carriers are also starting to utilize more advanced pricing methodologies that incorporate prospective costing of individual shipments and an advanced business rules engine to price individual shipments with more certainty based on the carrier’s needs at the time of quote,” he said. Indeed, LTL carriers have even started to vacuum up shipments in the 500-pound ballpark that ordinarily would have been routed to parcel carriers. Targeting small shippers LTL carriers are looking for new customers and new sources of freight, including smaller shippers and even transloaded international freight. “In the last quarter we grew shipment count with small customers by more than 10%,” Mario Harik, CEO of XPO, the third-largest US LTL provider, told the Journal of Commerce. XPO has invested in technology, real estate and in its sales force, increasing its number of sales agents by 25% in 2024 to pursue smaller shippers, Harik said, adding contractual rates represent about 80% of XPO’s business. Shippers can obtain rate quotes based on pricing agreements directly from XPO’s website. The development of transactional pricing tools accomplishes a couple of key goals for certain LTL carriers. It lets them lure in shippers that would have been outside their traditional customer bases, either in terms of the size, number or frequency of shipments. Secondly, it lets carriers work directly with shippers, taking that business out of the hands of brokers. ”Carriers dynamically adjust these rates,” said Curtis Garrett, CEO of LTL technology provider RateHero and a consultant to the LTL industry. “It’s a lever they have to fill capacity.” Garrett said the newest transactional pricing development is that some carriers are using it as a quicker way to onboard customers, either direct to shipper or through small and midsized brokers. “It cuts down on the admin back and forth and length of time to get a new customer set up and quoting,” he said. “Some carriers are putting this in the hands of their sales reps when they go visit a prospect. They can set them up and turn pricing on for them on the spot, which means more business quicker, but it usually falls into that transactional or dynamic bucket.” Not all LTL carriers are going this route, however. An LTL carrier executive who asked not to be identified told the Journal of Commerce they’re not seeing any major shift away from contractual business but added that the carrier doesn’t encourage that type of business, either. The executive said brokers are getting a bit more transactional business and that some LTL freight that moved to full truckload when truckload rates were low may be shifting back to LTL in drips and drabs. “Everybody has a TMS now, and that makes tendering an irregular, smaller LTL shipment outside of a contract easier,” the source said. A more ‘layered’ market Wider access to TMSs, whether it’s a shipper TMS that can manage across multiple modes or an LTL carrier TMS through which dynamic pricing can be offered, is impacting the market. “The rapid acceleration of technology, particularly through TMSs that offer multiple rate options, has created new opportunities for smaller clients,” said Dean Jones, chief commercial officer at third-party logistics provider AFS Logistics. “These systems allow them to access competitive rates without the need for traditional contractual arrangements.” Jones said 3PLs are also luring shippers outside contractual rate structures through ancillary services, whether via access to diverse rate options, a bundled TMS, freight audit and payment (FAP) or fully managed transportation. “This bundled approach eliminates the need for individual rate negotiations and provides clients with a streamlined, end-to-end solution powered by transactional rates embedded within the broader program,” he said. Jones added, however, that the majority of AFS’s clients operate under so-called client-specific pricing (CSP) contracts. “Across our customer base we don’t see any transactional spot quoting happening with LTL carriers,” said Shannon Vaillancourt, CEO of RateLinx, which provides TMS and freight audit tools to shippers. “All of our customers are on contract rates and are rate-shopping between the carriers.” Vaillancourt said customers he spoke to about an increase in transactional rates were skeptical about relying on spot quotes. “They really like the certainty of their contract rates and also were very confident that their contract rates were the ‘best’ rate out there,” he said. The uptick in transactional rates then speaks to a more layered market, with some carriers embracing dynamic rate availability and others more than happy to rely wholly on contractual pricing for shippers. The emergence of MyCarrier, a technology platform that lets LTL carriers provide a digital quoting and booking interface direct to shippers, is an example of this evolution. Last Thursday, FreightWise announced a partnership to incorporate rates from LTL carrier Estes directly into its TMS and that of Kuebix, a shipper-oriented, LTL-focused TMS that FreightWise acquired in 2023. Garrett said his company is working with a few LTL carriers on streamlining the process to get small and midsized brokers set up so they can push volume to those LTL carriers. The intent is to use technology to offset the high cost and risk that carriers have historically seen with small or infrequent LTL customers due to poor data and shipping practices. Contact Eric Johnson at eric.johnson@spglobal.com . Senior Editor William B. Cassidy contributed to this report.

Logistics Technology News

Truck brokers

US LTL carriers widen market reach through spot pricing technology

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">US energy and climate regulations and policies are expected to shift with the incoming Trump administration, although the magnitude of that shift is still unknown.</div>

US energy and climate regulations and policies are expected to shift with the incoming Trump administration, although the magnitude of that shift is still unknown.

<div class="phx-topic">The big picture: A massive slate of energy, infrastructure, and industrial projects in the US, including chip manufacturing, LNG, power generation, carbon capture, wind energy and more, is fueling optimism among project cargo logistics providers. However, uncertainty around potential changes in government funding, focus and regulations, including the threat of new tariffs, are tempering that optimism, particularly for projects related to clean energy. <div class="wrapper-narrow float-right-element"><img src="/images/phoenix/5914608_0.1.png"></img></div>A look back: As a range of energy and manufacturing projects gained traction in 2024, project cargo shippers and forwarders sounded downright chipper. “Things are breaking loose,” one shipper told the Journal of Commerce. Many US projects had been galvanized by billions of dollars in tax credits, grants, and loans made available by the Biden administration, including $369 billion in Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) funding, $412 billion in Department of Energy (DOE) loan authorizations that includes some IRA funds and $39 billion in CHIPS and Science grants intended to boost investment. New chip manufacturing projects worth nearly $450 billion had been announced by mid-2024, according to the Semiconductor Industry Association. Capital spending in North America on just renewable power generation was expected to reach $73.2 billion in 2024, $80.9 billion in 2025 and $92.5 billion in 2026, according to forecasts compiled by S&amp;P Global, parent company of the Journal of Commerce, prior to the US presidential election. Capital spending on conventional power generation, including nuclear and gas, was forecast at $8.6 billion in 2024, $7.1 billion in 2025 and $8 billion in 2026. The projects supported by this spending will take years to roll out, but many supported by Biden-era funding could be slowed, thwarted or redirected by policy changes imposed by a second Trump administration. A look ahead: US energy and climate regulations and policies are expected to shift with the incoming administration, although the magnitude of that shift is still unknown. “The most likely trajectory for the next four years is one of looser regulation, tighter trade restrictions and championing of fossil fuels,” noted a report from S&amp;P Global Energy View. While a true repeal of the IRA is not possible, Congress can undo, modify or slow-walk some portions of the program. DOE loans are more vulnerable, as billions in allocated funding were still tied up pre-closure negotiations when Donald Trump won the election, according to Kenneth Hansen, a partner in the projects group of Norton Rose Fulbright. Trump’s eventual Secretary of Energy — he has nominated oil industry executive Chris Wright — can cancel DOE applications that have not reached closing provisions status for any reason, Hansen told the Journal of Commerce. Once contracts are signed, awards are difficult to pull back, but as things stand now, there are “strong reasons for being concerned that [this funding] is at risk,” he said. <div class="wrapper-narrow"><dynamic-object type="jocchartid" resource-id="fe42f2b0-af0b-44ee-bea1-3e8f7e0cf3fe"></dynamic-object></div>The next inflection: Breakbulk and project cargo shippers are also bracing for potential effects from Trump-era tariffs. While costs matter, a more fundamental concern is “unpredictability,” a project shipper who asked not to be identified told the Journal of Commerce. Project supply chains take years to establish, and they can’t be reconfigured quickly in response to increased import tariffs. Some manufactured pieces take two years from design to completion and are manufactured in specialized yards around the world. “We can’t navigate around the tariffs,” the shipper said. “The companies that can make what we need are in the single digits, and it’s a manufacturing base that does not exist in the US.” Contact Janet Nodar at <a href="mailto:janet.nodar@spglobal.com">janet.nodar@spglobal.com.</a></div>

The big picture: A massive slate of energy, infrastructure, and industrial projects in the US, including chip manufacturing, LNG, power generation, carbon capture, wind energy and more, is fueling optimism among project cargo logistics providers. However, uncertainty around potential changes in government funding, focus and regulations, including the threat of new tariffs, are tempering that optimism, particularly for projects related to clean energy. A look back: As a range of energy and manufacturing projects gained traction in 2024, project cargo shippers and forwarders sounded downright chipper. “Things are breaking loose,” one shipper told the Journal of Commerce. Many US projects had been galvanized by billions of dollars in tax credits, grants, and loans made available by the Biden administration, including $369 billion in Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) funding, $412 billion in Department of Energy (DOE) loan authorizations that includes some IRA funds and $39 billion in CHIPS and Science grants intended to boost investment. New chip manufacturing projects worth nearly $450 billion had been announced by mid-2024, according to the Semiconductor Industry Association. Capital spending in North America on just renewable power generation was expected to reach $73.2 billion in 2024, $80.9 billion in 2025 and $92.5 billion in 2026, according to forecasts compiled by S&P Global, parent company of the Journal of Commerce, prior to the US presidential election. Capital spending on conventional power generation, including nuclear and gas, was forecast at $8.6 billion in 2024, $7.1 billion in 2025 and $8 billion in 2026. The projects supported by this spending will take years to roll out, but many supported by Biden-era funding could be slowed, thwarted or redirected by policy changes imposed by a second Trump administration. A look ahead: US energy and climate regulations and policies are expected to shift with the incoming administration, although the magnitude of that shift is still unknown. “The most likely trajectory for the next four years is one of looser regulation, tighter trade restrictions and championing of fossil fuels,” noted a report from S&P Global Energy View. While a true repeal of the IRA is not possible, Congress can undo, modify or slow-walk some portions of the program. DOE loans are more vulnerable, as billions in allocated funding were still tied up pre-closure negotiations when Donald Trump won the election, according to Kenneth Hansen, a partner in the projects group of Norton Rose Fulbright. Trump’s eventual Secretary of Energy — he has nominated oil industry executive Chris Wright — can cancel DOE applications that have not reached closing provisions status for any reason, Hansen told the Journal of Commerce. Once contracts are signed, awards are difficult to pull back, but as things stand now, there are “strong reasons for being concerned that [this funding] is at risk,” he said. The next inflection: Breakbulk and project cargo shippers are also bracing for potential effects from Trump-era tariffs. While costs matter, a more fundamental concern is “unpredictability,” a project shipper who asked not to be identified told the Journal of Commerce. Project supply chains take years to establish, and they can’t be reconfigured quickly in response to increased import tariffs. Some manufactured pieces take two years from design to completion and are manufactured in specialized yards around the world. “We can’t navigate around the tariffs,” the shipper said. “The companies that can make what we need are in the single digits, and it’s a manufacturing base that does not exist in the US.” Contact Janet Nodar at janet.nodar@spglobal.com.

Breakbulk carriers

Energy projects

Project cargo

Breakbulk News

Project cargo optimism buffeted by policy ‘unpredictability’

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">Increased orders and decreased recycling in 2024 helped capacity, but the volumes are still not where they need to be to balance the MPV fleet.</div>

Increased orders and decreased recycling in 2024 helped capacity, but the volumes are still not where they need to be to balance the MPV fleet.

<div class="phx-topic">An already firm multipurpose ship market will strengthen further in 2025, keeping freight rates elevated and capacity tight, market sources say.Shipbroker Toepfer Transport expects demand for multipurpose vessel (MPV) tonnage to “significantly increase” beginning in the third quarter of 2025. Consequently, its Multipurpose Index (TMI) is forecast to rise from its December 2024 level of $13,110 per day by the second half of 2025, Toepfer said in its year-end Multipurpose Shipping Report. The average TMI rate for 2024 was $12,605, well above the 10-year average of $10,193. Toepfer’s TMI is based on expected average rates for six- to 12-month time charters for 12,500-deadweight-ton (dwt) “F-Type” vessels with a safe working load of 240 to 360 metric tons, as reported to Toepfer by owners and operators. <div class="wrapper-narrow"><dynamic-object type="jocchartid" resource-id="ea382181-08cd-4298-912f-87c79836bcf7"></dynamic-object></div>Freight rates are rising as the gap between ship supply and cargo demand widens with aging tonnage partly to blame, according to a freight forwarder. Kai vonTaube, head of global chartering at deugro, told the Journal of Commerce that the MPV fleet is heavily weighted toward the 11- to 15-year age bracket. Toepfer reported 147 ships totaling 2.62 million dwt in that age range in its December report, equal to 15.79% of the total fleet. vonTaube said that the average age within that bracket is nearer to 14 to 15 years rather than 10, so vessels are regularly tipping over into the next bracket. This has commercial implications, he said. “Many clients consider vessels older than 15 years as overage, and they don’t want them,” vonTaube said. “So, we have increasing demand at the same time as the MPV fleet is shrinking. New building activity makes up for 3% to 4% of the fleet right now. That’s certainly not enough.”Increased orders and decreased recycling in 2024 have helped, but the volumes are still not where they need to be to balance the MPV fleet. The number of new MPVs delivered in 2024 increased from six to 13, and the number of ships sent for recycling increased from four to 10 year over year, Toepfer said. vonTaube said that the problem with capacity will not be resolved in 2025. “In fact, it will get worse,” he said, estimating that over half of the world’s MPV fleet will be overaged by 2028. Incoming environmental regulations will further reduce MPV fleet capacity, vonTaube said.“There is certainly a fair chunk of older MPV vessels that will eventually be banned from certain regions, which will again artificially reduce the capacity of the MPV fleet,” he said. <h3>Middle East projects a market driver</h3>The continuing avoidance of the Red Sea is further exacerbating the ship supply/demand imbalance. In a December report, Oslo, Norway-based shipping data analyst Esgian said in 2024 most ro/ro carriers opted for the longer Cape of Good Hope route for security reasons. “The extended sailing time restricts the global fleet’s cargo-carrying ability by as much as +/-5%, equating to about 35 vessels being sidelined annually,” Esgian said. “The continued reliance on the Cape route has tangible negative effects on both commercial activities and CO2 emissions.”The analyst expects a “significant impact” on the supply/demand balance for ro/ro vessels once the situation in the Red Sea stabilizes.On the cargo side, the Middle East and renewables are set to be significant drivers for breakbulk cargo volumes in 2025. Mega projects in the Middle East are already in play, or ready to be executed in 2025, adding to MPV cargo demand this year. ”The contracts are signed, the equipment is purchased and under production,” vonTaube said. “It’s not something at the end of the rainbow everyone is hoping for.”That has led to a shift in trade trends for MPVs. While the Middle East remains a huge import region, old equipment is now coming out of the region and heading to Asia for refurbishment, replacement or repair, or into the secondhand market. “This will increase further into 2025,” vonTaube said. Some regions, including North Europe, are expected to remain weak in 2025, and possibly into 2026. But a constant increase in freight rates in Asia and longer lead times to secure a ship are set to continue, vonTaube said. “If I needed to secure space for 10,000 tons of project cargo [in Asia] a year ago, a three-week lead time was enough,” he said. “Now I need almost double that to find the vessel.”Contact Carly Fields at <a href="mailto:carly.fields@spglobal.com">carly.fields@spglobal.com</a>.</div>

An already firm multipurpose ship market will strengthen further in 2025, keeping freight rates elevated and capacity tight, market sources say. Shipbroker Toepfer Transport expects demand for multipurpose vessel (MPV) tonnage to “significantly increase” beginning in the third quarter of 2025. Consequently, its Multipurpose Index (TMI) is forecast to rise from its December 2024 level of $13,110 per day by the second half of 2025, Toepfer said in its year-end Multipurpose Shipping Report. The average TMI rate for 2024 was $12,605, well above the 10-year average of $10,193. Toepfer’s TMI is based on expected average rates for six- to 12-month time charters for 12,500-deadweight-ton (dwt) “F-Type” vessels with a safe working load of 240 to 360 metric tons, as reported to Toepfer by owners and operators. Freight rates are rising as the gap between ship supply and cargo demand widens with aging tonnage partly to blame, according to a freight forwarder. Kai vonTaube, head of global chartering at deugro, told the Journal of Commerce that the MPV fleet is heavily weighted toward the 11- to 15-year age bracket. Toepfer reported 147 ships totaling 2.62 million dwt in that age range in its December report, equal to 15.79% of the total fleet. vonTaube said that the average age within that bracket is nearer to 14 to 15 years rather than 10, so vessels are regularly tipping over into the next bracket. This has commercial implications, he said. “Many clients consider vessels older than 15 years as overage, and they don’t want them,” vonTaube said. “So, we have increasing demand at the same time as the MPV fleet is shrinking. New building activity makes up for 3% to 4% of the fleet right now. That’s certainly not enough.” Increased orders and decreased recycling in 2024 have helped, but the volumes are still not where they need to be to balance the MPV fleet. The number of new MPVs delivered in 2024 increased from six to 13, and the number of ships sent for recycling increased from four to 10 year over year, Toepfer said. vonTaube said that the problem with capacity will not be resolved in 2025. “In fact, it will get worse,” he said, estimating that over half of the world’s MPV fleet will be overaged by 2028. Incoming environmental regulations will further reduce MPV fleet capacity, vonTaube said. “There is certainly a fair chunk of older MPV vessels that will eventually be banned from certain regions, which will again artificially reduce the capacity of the MPV fleet,” he said. Middle East projects a market driver The continuing avoidance of the Red Sea is further exacerbating the ship supply/demand imbalance. In a December report, Oslo, Norway-based shipping data analyst Esgian said in 2024 most ro/ro carriers opted for the longer Cape of Good Hope route for security reasons. “The extended sailing time restricts the global fleet’s cargo-carrying ability by as much as +/-5%, equating to about 35 vessels being sidelined annually,” Esgian said. “The continued reliance on the Cape route has tangible negative effects on both commercial activities and CO2 emissions.” The analyst expects a “significant impact” on the supply/demand balance for ro/ro vessels once the situation in the Red Sea stabilizes. On the cargo side, the Middle East and renewables are set to be significant drivers for breakbulk cargo volumes in 2025. Mega projects in the Middle East are already in play, or ready to be executed in 2025, adding to MPV cargo demand this year. ”The contracts are signed, the equipment is purchased and under production,” vonTaube said. “It’s not something at the end of the rainbow everyone is hoping for.” That has led to a shift in trade trends for MPVs. While the Middle East remains a huge import region, old equipment is now coming out of the region and heading to Asia for refurbishment, replacement or repair, or into the secondhand market. “This will increase further into 2025,” vonTaube said. Some regions, including North Europe, are expected to remain weak in 2025, and possibly into 2026. But a constant increase in freight rates in Asia and longer lead times to secure a ship are set to continue, vonTaube said. “If I needed to secure space for 10,000 tons of project cargo [in Asia] a year ago, a three-week lead time was enough,” he said. “Now I need almost double that to find the vessel.” Contact Carly Fields at carly.fields@spglobal.com .

Capacity-bound MPV operators poised for strong year amid firming rates

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">The IMO tends to move at a glacial pace, but with 2030 emissions targets looming, it no longer has that luxury.</div>

The IMO tends to move at a glacial pace, but with 2030 emissions targets looming, it no longer has that luxury.

<div class="phx-topic">The big picture: The need to narrow the price gap between fossil fuels and cleaner alternatives is the single most important challenge facing the maritime industry as it strives to meet interim emissions targets on the way to reaching net-zero by 2050. Making renewable energy more competitive will drive up investment in clean technologies and scale up sustainable fuel production, but it will rely on increased government support to bridge the operational cost gap of transitioning to alternative energy sources. <div class="wrapper-narrow float-right-element"><img src="/images/phoenix/5914605_0.1.png"></img></div>A look back: Most ocean carriers have set their targets for achieving net-zero emissions at 2040 or 2045, but to achieve those ambitious goals, they must first hit the interim emissions targets of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) that require a 20% cut — striving for 30% — by 2030. That’s going to be difficult, however, given a lack of clarity around which green fuel or fuels will be supplied at an adequate scale to power the global fleet. That uncertainty has been evident in recent container ship orders, with 80% of the 1.7 million TEUs in vessel capacity ordered in the first 10 months of 2024 capable of sailing on methanol or LNG, according to Sea-web, a sister company of the Journal of Commerce within S&amp;P Global. And even as carriers hedged their ship order bets on fuels for which they have been able to secure supply agreements, carbon dioxide emissions rose sharply in 2024. Starting in late 2023, the diversion of vessels around southern Africa due to the Red Sea crisis added two weeks and over 2,000 nautical miles to voyages that normally would have transited the Suez Canal. The combination of these longer voyages, higher sailing speeds necessary for ships to maintain their schedules and resulting port congestion in Asia and Europe caused greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to return to the peak levels recorded in 2008, according to data compiled by rate benchmarking platform Xeneta. A look ahead: The rising emissions are a worrying development for the IMO as pressure builds from across the maritime supply chain for it to adopt and roll out mid-term measures including the establishment of a global fuel standard for marine fuels and a global pricing mechanism for GHG emissions. With 176 member states — all with different agendas — the IMO tends to move at a glacial pace when adopting global regulations, but with just five years to reach 2030 emissions-reduction targets, it no longer has that luxury. Legal text for the mid-term measures must be thrashed out and approved at the next Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) meeting in April 2025 so the measures can be implemented in October if the maritime industry is to have any hope of achieving its 2030 targets. The next inflection: A return to the shorter Suez Canal route, which is by no means assured in 2025, would give the maritime industry a significant leg up in its efforts to meet its looming GHG targets. Carriers would immediately slow down ships, drastically reducing fuel consumption, and the release of additional capacity would allow them to send large swathes of older, less-efficient tonnage to the demolition yard. But ultimately, closing the yawning gap in pricing between traditional and alternative fuels with a polluter-pays mechanism that taxes GHG emissions and places all carriers on the same playing field, whatever future fuel pathway they decide to sail down, is the only way the industry can meet those targets. Contact Greg Knowler at <a href="mailto:greg.knowler@spglobal.com">greg.knowler@spglobal.com.</a></div>

The big picture: The need to narrow the price gap between fossil fuels and cleaner alternatives is the single most important challenge facing the maritime industry as it strives to meet interim emissions targets on the way to reaching net-zero by 2050. Making renewable energy more competitive will drive up investment in clean technologies and scale up sustainable fuel production, but it will rely on increased government support to bridge the operational cost gap of transitioning to alternative energy sources. A look back: Most ocean carriers have set their targets for achieving net-zero emissions at 2040 or 2045, but to achieve those ambitious goals, they must first hit the interim emissions targets of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) that require a 20% cut — striving for 30% — by 2030. That’s going to be difficult, however, given a lack of clarity around which green fuel or fuels will be supplied at an adequate scale to power the global fleet. That uncertainty has been evident in recent container ship orders, with 80% of the 1.7 million TEUs in vessel capacity ordered in the first 10 months of 2024 capable of sailing on methanol or LNG, according to Sea-web, a sister company of the Journal of Commerce within S&P Global. And even as carriers hedged their ship order bets on fuels for which they have been able to secure supply agreements, carbon dioxide emissions rose sharply in 2024. Starting in late 2023, the diversion of vessels around southern Africa due to the Red Sea crisis added two weeks and over 2,000 nautical miles to voyages that normally would have transited the Suez Canal. The combination of these longer voyages, higher sailing speeds necessary for ships to maintain their schedules and resulting port congestion in Asia and Europe caused greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to return to the peak levels recorded in 2008, according to data compiled by rate benchmarking platform Xeneta. A look ahead: The rising emissions are a worrying development for the IMO as pressure builds from across the maritime supply chain for it to adopt and roll out mid-term measures including the establishment of a global fuel standard for marine fuels and a global pricing mechanism for GHG emissions. With 176 member states — all with different agendas — the IMO tends to move at a glacial pace when adopting global regulations, but with just five years to reach 2030 emissions-reduction targets, it no longer has that luxury. Legal text for the mid-term measures must be thrashed out and approved at the next Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) meeting in April 2025 so the measures can be implemented in October if the maritime industry is to have any hope of achieving its 2030 targets. The next inflection: A return to the shorter Suez Canal route, which is by no means assured in 2025, would give the maritime industry a significant leg up in its efforts to meet its looming GHG targets. Carriers would immediately slow down ships, drastically reducing fuel consumption, and the release of additional capacity would allow them to send large swathes of older, less-efficient tonnage to the demolition yard. But ultimately, closing the yawning gap in pricing between traditional and alternative fuels with a polluter-pays mechanism that taxes GHG emissions and places all carriers on the same playing field, whatever future fuel pathway they decide to sail down, is the only way the industry can meet those targets. Contact Greg Knowler at greg.knowler@spglobal.com.

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Maritime

Suez diversions, lack of IMO agreement put 2030 emissions targets at risk

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">Outside investment for project carriers is scarce, primarily because future project cargo flows are so difficult to predict.</div>

Outside investment for project carriers is scarce, primarily because future project cargo flows are so difficult to predict.

<div class="phx-topic">The big picture: The security crisis in the Red Sea and drought conditions in the Panama Canal get all the headlines, but it’s the new trade lanes needed to adjust for these disruptions that are boosting ton-mile demand and squeezing capacity in the multipurpose and heavy-lift (MPV/HL) sector. Those dynamics are expected to keep MPV/HL rates at current levels through the first quarter of 2025, but as new tonnage from the competing container and roll-on/roll-off (ro/ro) sectors hits the water, non-heavy-lift MPV rates are likely to weaken. <div class="wrapper-narrow float-right-element"><img src="/images/phoenix/5914605_0.1.png"></img></div>A look back: The increase in project cargo demand that most market players expected 12 months ago failed to materialize, with total seaborne dry cargo demand rising just 0.8% in 2024, according to S&amp;P Global Market Intelligence. However, increased ton-mile demand caused by ongoing draft restrictions in the Panama Canal and the Red Sea crisis diverting vessels away from the Suez Canal kept tonnage availability tight and charter rates elevated throughout the year. As of November, the latest month for which data is available, daily charter rates for 12,500-deadweight ton (dwt) “F-Type” ships stood at $13,157, up 12.8% from the beginning of the year and 7.8% from the same month in 2023, according to the Toepfer Multipurpose Index. This was 43% below the pandemic peak recorded in July 2022 but still twice the pre-COVID-19 average. A look ahead: If US President-elect Donald Trump delivers his agenda as promised, energy production and generation-related general cargo demand could shift dramatically. But questions remain as to which of Trump’s stated policy goals, including repealing Biden administration rules for power generation and weakening methane emission standards for the oil and gas sector, will actually be implemented. For now, forecasts for project cargo remain strong across both the energy and construction sectors, with the growing power needs of data centers expected to drive additional freight volumes. Of the 5,216 energy-related projects currently under discussion globally, just 19% have reached a final investment decision, according to an October report from the Energy Industry Council. The remaining 81% equates to a significant amount of potential cargo in limbo, adding to the uncertainty for project cargo demand and further discouraging newbuild vessel orders beyond capacity replacement. Demolition levels are also expected to remain subdued as cargo demand is high enough to keep overage tonnage employed despite increasing carbon taxes and related regulations. Given the existing order book of 175 MPVs and conservative estimates for newbuilding investment, the MPV/HL fleet is forecast to grow an average of just 1.7% per year through 2026, according to a Journal of Commerce analysis that accounts for potential order slippage, additional new orders and demolition sales. <div class="wrapper-narrow"><dynamic-object type="jocchartid" resource-id="58060bd4-8c46-4e05-8d08-412424279b07"></dynamic-object></div>The next inflection: Outside investment for project carriers is scarce, primarily because future project cargo flows are so difficult to predict. This could lead to a further tightness in heavy-lift capable modern tonnage over the next few years and a corresponding rise in charter rates for this vessel type. Of particular concern for some shippers is a lack of newbuilding deck carriers, vessels particularly suited for moving large, heavy pieces of equipment including modules. For non-heavy-lift breakbulk shippers, the avalanche of container ships, bulk carriers and ro/ro vessels being delivered over 2025 and 2026 will keep competition for their cargoes high, likely weakening MPV rates. Contact Susan Oatway at <a href="mailto:susan.oatway@spglobal.com">susan.oatway@spglobal.com.</a></div>

The big picture: The security crisis in the Red Sea and drought conditions in the Panama Canal get all the headlines, but it’s the new trade lanes needed to adjust for these disruptions that are boosting ton-mile demand and squeezing capacity in the multipurpose and heavy-lift (MPV/HL) sector. Those dynamics are expected to keep MPV/HL rates at current levels through the first quarter of 2025, but as new tonnage from the competing container and roll-on/roll-off (ro/ro) sectors hits the water, non-heavy-lift MPV rates are likely to weaken. A look back: The increase in project cargo demand that most market players expected 12 months ago failed to materialize, with total seaborne dry cargo demand rising just 0.8% in 2024, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence. However, increased ton-mile demand caused by ongoing draft restrictions in the Panama Canal and the Red Sea crisis diverting vessels away from the Suez Canal kept tonnage availability tight and charter rates elevated throughout the year. As of November, the latest month for which data is available, daily charter rates for 12,500-deadweight ton (dwt) “F-Type” ships stood at $13,157, up 12.8% from the beginning of the year and 7.8% from the same month in 2023, according to the Toepfer Multipurpose Index. This was 43% below the pandemic peak recorded in July 2022 but still twice the pre-COVID-19 average. A look ahead: If US President-elect Donald Trump delivers his agenda as promised, energy production and generation-related general cargo demand could shift dramatically. But questions remain as to which of Trump’s stated policy goals, including repealing Biden administration rules for power generation and weakening methane emission standards for the oil and gas sector, will actually be implemented. For now, forecasts for project cargo remain strong across both the energy and construction sectors, with the growing power needs of data centers expected to drive additional freight volumes. Of the 5,216 energy-related projects currently under discussion globally, just 19% have reached a final investment decision, according to an October report from the Energy Industry Council. The remaining 81% equates to a significant amount of potential cargo in limbo, adding to the uncertainty for project cargo demand and further discouraging newbuild vessel orders beyond capacity replacement. Demolition levels are also expected to remain subdued as cargo demand is high enough to keep overage tonnage employed despite increasing carbon taxes and related regulations. Given the existing order book of 175 MPVs and conservative estimates for newbuilding investment, the MPV/HL fleet is forecast to grow an average of just 1.7% per year through 2026, according to a Journal of Commerce analysis that accounts for potential order slippage, additional new orders and demolition sales. The next inflection: Outside investment for project carriers is scarce, primarily because future project cargo flows are so difficult to predict. This could lead to a further tightness in heavy-lift capable modern tonnage over the next few years and a corresponding rise in charter rates for this vessel type. Of particular concern for some shippers is a lack of newbuilding deck carriers, vessels particularly suited for moving large, heavy pieces of equipment including modules. For non-heavy-lift breakbulk shippers, the avalanche of container ships, bulk carriers and ro/ro vessels being delivered over 2025 and 2026 will keep competition for their cargoes high, likely weakening MPV rates. Contact Susan Oatway at susan.oatway@spglobal.com.

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US policy uncertainty clouds MPV/HL outlook going into 2025

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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.David Knuth, logistics specialist at IEWC, a global supplier of cable and wire based in Wisconsin, is happy to have modernized the RFP process, automating the entire LTL bidding procedure with Bid$ense, SMC³’s automated truckload and LTL freight transportation sourcing solution. But when prompted, he can still recall what once was.In his previous job, a large part of his duties were consumed by creating an intermodal bid package for carriers. In a spreadsheet, Knuth detailed the company’s volumes lane by lane, taking care to delete any errant keystrokes or misleading data. He would then email out the information to each carrier, taking time to respond to detailed technical questions about the spreadsheet data. Finally, he had to compile all the results, create an algorithm that would compare the carriers on each lane, and award the business.“It was a huge undertaking. It took about four months to do,” Knuth said of the old process. “It was almost a full-time job for that part of the year, every year.”In his new job at IEWC, he sat down with Bid$ense on day one and was amazed at the capabilities. Knuth had never before used a bid tool. SMC³’s latest versions of Bid$ense automate the process even further, taking truckload and LTL RFPs entirely online. The tool draws on RFP best-practices protocols to streamline the bidding communication process, enabling bidding carriers to respond accurately and promptly to shipper requests. The solution also does all the distribution work automatically, electronically submitting shipper bid data to carriers based on their actual service capabilities and performance records. Carriers are alerted with timely prompts for RFP deliverables, so shippers aren’t waiting by the phone for responses.Another benefit of automating the process is the data-cleansing assistance. When Knuth sent spreadsheets to carriers, data errors might cloud the bidding process; he might have to resend data or simply accept a price that did not truly reflect the costs of doing business. Data cleansing is incredibly beneficial, he said.The spreadsheet technique also made bidding analysis an onerous task. Since Bid$ense automates and streamlines the entire RFP process, intensive examination is now simple. SMC³ knows that each bid has more than one best outcome. With uniform responses from each carrier, shippers can quickly rank results and create an unlimited quantity of what-if scenarios to make the optimal procurement decision.Jesse Burnett of Central Garden &amp; Pet experiences many of the same benefits. Founded in 1980, Central Garden &amp; Pet has spent the last three decades growing from a small garden supply company to a provider of a range of products from dog chews and bird seed to soil supplements and natural insecticides. For much of its life, the company shipped these disparate goods via LTL and truckload carriers to retailers throughout the country, relying on each business unit to negotiate directly with their freight transportation providers. This arrangement worked fairly well for a small company, but as Central Garden &amp; Pet expanded, leadership decided to consolidate decision making.Burnett helped centralize the transportation decision making in 2015 with SMC³’s Bid$ense. Before Bid$ense, every business unit operated independently as far as negotiating with carriers.“There were a lot of different things just floating around,” he said. “We didn’t have master agreements in place; no national pricing at all. The pricing from carriers was just all over the place, depending on where you were.”The transformations he saw with Bid$ense were immediate. Burnett has been using the tool about every other year since its implementation at the company. Central Garden and Pet’s $19.6 million 2019 LTL bid saved the company just more than 9 percent when compared to its historical average. For Burnett, though, bid automation extends far beyond savings.“We knew that we weren’t getting the best pricing offer from our carriers just because nothing was centralized,” he continued. “We knew that if we combined everything from all these business units and paired it with one corporate offering, then it would drive some cost benefit with it.”When the company initially decided to centralize bid procurement, executives researched a number of different methodologies and technologies. In the end, though, Burnett found that Bid$ense was both widespread and well known, and that his carrier partners already knew how to use the application. Burnett also highlighted the data-cleansing process as a major benefit, saying the rigorous process ensures that carriers always return the best price.“It definitely has helped drive savings,” he said. “Any time you go out there and you drive that competitiveness with the carriers and they know they’re in a bid environment, it seems to sharpen their pencils.”Transportation procurement is an integral part of the modern supply chain. With Bid$ense, shippers can develop a strategic implementation plan that saves them time and money, but also helps them create strong relationships with their carrier partners. These carriers appreciate the solution’s data-cleansing process; when carriers receive a complete shipment history and future volume forecast, they don’t have to guess on pricing. Carriers that receive more data from shippers get a complete picture of that shipper’s freight, allowing them to accurately plan instead of simply preparing for the worst-case scenario. Clean data presented through an automated system can lead to both bigger shipment savings and a lasting partnership between carrier and customer.Whether customers are looking to streamline over-the-road transportation bidding by automating the RFP process or create an entirely new, centralized sourcing process, Bid$ense has the analytical horsepower to get the job done.SMC³ 2020 Customer Case Study

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Shippers save money, time with automated transportation bidding tools

If there’s one immutable truth in the world of logistics, it’s this: LTL is an inherently complex form of transportation. Tariffs, rates, DIM weights, transit times — it’s enough to confuse even seasoned logistics professionals. The solution to this knowledge gap has historically been on-the-job training or university supply chain education, but for a variety of reasons there is now a pressing need for third-party, remote LTL training that prepares logistics workers for transportation success. Global Scope Can Overlook Local Intricacies In the past, professionals looking to move into a supply chain career learned about the basics of supply chain from universities. However, many of these college supply chain programs are now global in scope, focusing on worldwide supply chain management instead of the intricacies of specialized domestic transportation. And even these programs, which used to be widespread, are becoming less common. LTL is not an industry of broad-brush strokes; supply chain professionals really need a pointillistic understanding of the logistics of LTL in order to excel in the industry. Accelerating Need for Dedicated LTL Education This lack of specified training put the onus on employers to prepare new hires with the LTL knowledge needed to do their jobs. Dedicated LTL study is a necessity, not a luxury. At the same time, changes in LTL and the broader supply chain world are accelerating. The reliance on e-commerce has ballooned since the start of the pandemic, and last-mile LTL shipments and related e-commerce strains on the supply chain won’t diminish once social distancing abates. That genie isn’t going back into the bottle. So supply chain employers need logistics workers that are fully versed in all aspects of the industry, ready to solve unique shipping and delivery problems based on their extensive supply chain knowledge But why care about LTL? It’s been reported that some shippers in today’s world are no longer concerned with what mode is used to ship their goods. A Multimodal Approach Ensures On-Time Delivery This mode agnosticism means supply chain stakeholders have to be well versed in all modes of transportation. As unforeseen weather events and other disruptions, such as protests, become more common, savvy logistics employees will need to be armed with familiarity of all modes, not just the most popular, to ensure that freight is delivered on time, without damage, and in the most financially expedient way possible. Offerings like SMC³’s LTL online education courses cover a wide range of topics from LTL basics and operations to more advanced concepts like pricing analytics and transportation law. The company also has plans to continually refresh content, adding new expert presenters and taking the feedback of students to make the courses even better as time goes on. Learn more about&nbsp;<a href="https://logisticstrainingcenter.com/smc3-courses/" rel="noreferrer" class="joc_admin__link">SMC³’s LTL Online Education program</a>&nbsp;and view the 2021 hybrid schedule, featuring live industry experts,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.smc3.com/onlinelearning2021/" rel="noreferrer" class="joc_admin__link">here.</a>

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Trucking News | Journal of Commerce

Trucking News

The Journal of Commerce’s surface transport news and analysis focuses on landside transport movement — from railroad news to trucking news — including full load trucking, less-than-truckload (LTL), refrigerated (or reefer) trucking, flatbed and domestic and international intermodal rail, and how it connects with seaports, inland rail hubs, distribution centers and transloading operations. Reporting on the surface transport sector covers the movement of domestic shipments within the United States and international cargoes transported via domestic equipment including trailers and 53-foot containers.

Stay updated with our rail transport news and trends. Journal of Commerce covers intermodal news, and port connectivity news in the container rail transport sector.

Rail News | Journal of Commerce

Rail News

Explore the world of ground transport news - from trucks to railroads, intermodal connections, and port ties. Daily insights on US and global shipments.

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