LTL

By many accounts, the U.S. is in a freight recession. So why are regional less-than-truckload carriers building terminals, expanding into new territories and adding customers?

Freight costing "is a huge challenge," Estes Express Lines' chief operating officer told a technology conference.

Estes Express will roll out Estes Final Mile by the end of 2016, as e-commerce grows and traditional freight markets stagnate.

Trucking, shipping interests attack use of data they call flawed in proposed motor carrier ratings.

Despite "positive" economic indicators, freight volumes seem stuck at a "standstill."

Old Dominion Freight Line is filling in gaps in its terminal network and building freight density.

Truck capacity is overwhelmingly concentrated among small and midsize carriers.

Northeast regional LTL carrier A. Duie Pyle is blending warehousing, distribution and dedicated trucking to attract shippers.

Facing a soft LTL market, Roadrunner takes steps to build out its U.S. network and attract freight from western Canada.

Trucking hiring is bumping against a post-recession ceiling as unemployment drops, construction wages rise.

A slower economy has not necessarily driven less-than-truckload carriers off the road.

At a time when many transport operators say prices are being beaten down, less-than-truckload freight haulers in the U.S. are winning rate increases in annual contract bids.

The debate over dimensional-weight pricing has shifted from if to when it will be applied to less-than-truckload freight, the CEOs of some of the largest LTL trucking companies said at the 2016 NASSTRAC Shippers Conference.

U.S. shippers and trucking companies ride a pricing 'roller coaster' with more stomach-punishing ups and downs than the Coney Island Cyclone. Derek Leathers, president and COO of Werner Enterprises, would like to shut the ride down.

Diversification, an acquisition and a change in its dimensional weight factor in its expedited less-than-truckload business helped drive first-quarter revenue and profit higher at Forward Air.

Truck tonnage increased year-over-year in March but dropped 4.5 percent from February, when the American Trucking Associations' For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index shot up to unusual height.

Many of the same problems that sapped trucking revenue last year — high inventories, weak consumer demand, excess capacity and lower fuel surcharges — are still present in 2016. Here are five key takeaways from the 13th annual Top 50 Trucking Companies report, prepared by SJ Consulting Group and JOC.com.

The U.S. economy may be crawling along, but Estes Express Lines is moving faster, opening a new less-than-truckload terminal in the Chicago area.

An unexpected economic detour slammed the brakes on revenue growth at the largest U.S. trucking companies in 2015, sending many companies down the financial equivalent of a runaway truck ramp as inventories piled up, fuel surcharges dropped and freight demand slumped.

The truck driver shortage is more a problem for large trucking operators, as the total number of drivers and small fleets grows, said Jeff Tucker, chairman of the Transportation Intermediaries Association and head of Tucker Company Worldwide.

Canada’s Dicom Transportation Group is driving deeper into U.S. markets as it pursues cross-border and last-mile freight and packages.

Three acquisition-hungry companies, XPO Logistics, Celadon Group and Daseke, were the fastest-growing businesses on a list of the 50 largest U.S. trucking companies in 2015.

Old Dominion Freight Line opened its 21st service center in Texas as shipment volume increases in the Lone Star State.

The U.S. economy gained jobs in March, but not the trucking industry. The number of employees on for-hire trucking payrolls dropped for the second straight month in March, send a warning to carriers about wages and shippers about capacity.

The significant decline in Russia’s container traffic as a result of sanctions and an ongoing economic crisis is transforming not only the routes that cargo in Russia takes, but also the underlying dynamics of the country’s shipping business.

U.S. truck tonnage leaped 7.2 percent in February, after declining a revised 0.3 percent in January, the American Trucking Associations said March 22. Will March gains be as strong?

As part of an effort to improve yields and better cost and price shipments, FedEx Freight says it will add eight dimensional scanners to the 45 it already uses to reweigh and classify freight at terminals.

The strong surge in revenue U.S. less-than-truckload carriers enjoyed in 2014 ran out of gas last year, as weaker demand and lower fuel surcharges dragged down LTL trucking’s top line.

Revenue at the Top 25 U.S. LTL and truckload carriers declined overall in 2015, and any revenue gains were muted, two industry rankings researched and prepared for JOC.com by SJ Consulting Group show.

The first shoots of spring U.S. freight demand appeared in February, with Saia and Old Dominion Freight Line reporting increases in shipments that could signal stronger or at least more stable manufacturing and freight shipping activity.

The U.S. economy added jobs in February, but payrolls at for-hire trucking companies declined last month for the first time since October,

Trucking and logistics operator Mobile Air Transport announced Tuesday it plans to acquire Kings Express, a full-service delivery, trucking, distribution and warehouse service company.

FedEx, the largest less-than-truckload carrier in North America and the second-largest trucking operator in the U.S., has joined the league of logistics industry groups, including rival UPS, opposed to a proposed Canadian Pacific-Norfolk Southern railway merger.

By the end of this year, former Con-way Freight truck drivers now working for XPO Logistics will have new uniforms, as well as trucks and trailers displaying the XPO Logistics logo. “By September, we’ll have distributed about 18,000 uniform sets,” CEO Bradley S. Jacobs said. “We’re rebranding 10,500 tractors and 30,000 trailers,” a job he expects to finish this year.

Downturn? Recession? They're not in XPO Logistics' sights this year. The $7.6 billion logistics and transportation company sees e-commerce fueling many of its asset-based and non-asset business segments in North American and Europe.

High inventories nationwide continued to weigh down for-hire U.S. truck tonnage growth in January.

Technology provider and trucking association SMC3 is developing an "industry platform" that uses application program interfaces to link shippers, trucking companies and logistics providers. The platform is designed to speed supply chain communications and open the gates to more innovation.

Third-party logistics providers already control about 25 percent of the less-than-truckload freight market, and that share is growing, as shippers look for 3PLs with assets and broad portfolios.

SHIFT Freight, an asset-light, high-tech less-than-truckload carrier, is expanding its full-state coverage and westbound lanes.

E-commerce opportunities on both sides of the Canada-U.S. border are helping TransForce compensate for loss of energy, less-than-truckload volumes.