LTL

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Truck capacity is being tightened in drive-thru-sized bites as restaurant and rest stop closings delay drivers.

As COVID-19 response unfolds, restricted business operating hours, potential closures could complicate deliveries, solidifying a soft trucking market.

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.

Long-haul LTL carrier YRC Freight is expanding a next-day service offering in Texas, where its parent company previously had no regional footprint.

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.

Shippers with an eye on instability in US markets are considering innovative contract terms, including the use of volume guarantees and flexible rates.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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?

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.

XPO Logistics, Old Dominion Freight Line, and Saia are among LTL trucking companies that see encouraging, albeit modest and early, signs for economic growth in 2020.

The third-largest US LTL operator commits to ongoing reorganization, and sees glimmers of recovery in US manufacturing activity and freight demand in early 2020.

Roadrunner Freight is cutting transit times and investing in technology and facilities as it attempts to transform itself into a higher-service, customer-focused less-than-truckload carrier.

Two regional LTL carriers say their new partnership will help increase domestic traffic and set up “international inland” moves in a six-state West Coast network.

In a lackluster market, ArcBest’s ABF Freight finds it necessary to judiciously mix truckload spot and traditional LTL freight, asset-based, and non-asset services.

As its US network gets faster and more automated and e-commerce demand keeps growing, UPS is taking aim at small to mid-sized businesses in 2020.

Shippers, as much as carriers, are driving toward electronic or digital bills of lading, as the need for speed and more responsive, detailed customer service increases.

Truck volumes have flattened, not collapsed, a trucking analyst tells SMC3’s Jumpstart 2020 Conference. Truck capacity hit its peak in Q4 2019, and is expected to contract this year.

The bottom of the current slump in US freight demand is approaching, but new threats, including the China coronavirus, are emerging, speakers at the SMC3 Jumpstart 2020 conference warned.

An increase in housing permits and starts will help rebuild US truck volumes this spring, putting increased demand on truck capacity and spot pricing, according to Bobby Holland, vice president and director of freight data solutions at US Bank.

Indications that the US manufacturing sector is improving, rather than deteriorating, could point to more freight demand and truck shipments this spring, especially for LTL carriers.

Expect the sale or spin-off of some business to make XPO more a “pure-play” LTL trucking company — smaller, but more focused on US shippers and better positioned to increase shareholder value.

Shipper demand, lower modal boundaries, and changing procurement practices lead LTL technology provider SMC3 to add truckload functionality to its bidding software.

Trucking employment slipped in December as US manufacturing remained sluggish, but there are signs demand, and perhaps payrolls, may improve in 2020.

Two technology firms are taking an ambitious step toward bringing shippers, trucking companies, and logistics providers together on one transportation management platform.

The electronic logging device (ELD) eventually will help shippers find trucks more quickly, help trucking companies better manage drivers, and help drivers better manage hours. But more integration of ELD data with other systems and more development are needed to deliver bigger benefits.

Less-than-truckload (LTL) carriers maintained pricing discipline and focusing on their bottom lines in 2019, but the overall outlook for the sector in 2020 still depends largely on a flagging US manufacturing industry.

With the number of truck drivers in the United States expected to continue rising steadily, motor carriers in the coming years will be focused on to getting the most out of existing drivers' miles and ensuring drivers earn enough money to keep them behind the wheel.

The latest data from the American Trucking Associations shows large truckload carriers cutting drivers and smaller fleets ramping up hiring.

Year-to-date declines in metal, chemical, and forest product shipments will depress future truck volumes, creating an overhang that will affect pricing, a transportation economist says.

Shippers may find capacity tighter on a carrier-by-carrier, lane-by-lane basis when the final phase of the ELD mandate takes effect Monday.