Truck brokers

A software provider that offers visibility and freight matching tools to brokers has been acquired by a private equity firm in a move designed to grow its attractiveness to midsized brokers and small carrier fleets.

The planned merger of GlobalTranz and Worldwide Express is being driven by extreme US freight market conditions that will push shippers toward third-party logistics providers.

The planned merger of GlobalTranz and Worldwide Express, creating the fourth-largest freight brokerage in North America, allows the third-party logistics providers to pool parcel, less-than-truckload, and truckload capabilities in tight surface capacity market.

The US for-hire trucking industry has added 25,100 jobs over the past three months, but the US economy appears to be expanding faster than trucking recruiters can hire workers.

The Coyote Curve truckload market forecast calls for a new spot pricing peak in the third quarter, but the pricing cycle may not turn downward until 2022.

The Coyote Curve truckload market forecast calls for a new spot pricing peak in the third quarter, but the pricing cycle may not turn downward until 2022.

The largest US truckload operator, Knight-Swift, acquired non-asset 3PL UTXL to gain access to additional trucks and drivers, as well as new logistics services.

US truckload spot rates are hitting new highs in May as continued strong freight demand, coupled with market disruption, pushes up pricing in the South and Southwest,

US shippers and truckers are struggling to expand their trailer pools as demand for drop-and-hook trailer service rises and manufacturing backlogs stretch into 2022.

Convoy is expanding its drop-and-hook program to cover more spot freight, a move that lets shippers negotiate demand variability without sacrificing the efficiency benefits of pre-staged loads.

European digital freight broker sennder has continued its acquisition activity by buying a Dutch dedicated fleet broker to add to its growing network.

An integration with transportation software provider MercuryGate connects Trucker Tools to broker users, but also gives it a more direct link to shippers.

Perishable shippers seeking to wean themselves off a reliance on brokers have a new venture-backed platform that connects them directly with a network of pre-vetted reefer carriers.

Freight broker and forwarder C.H. Robinson is growing LTL volume "faster than the marketplace” as US shippers scramble to find available capacity for shipments.

Third-party logistics and software firms such as C.H. Robinson Worldwide and Blume Global are broadening the use of technology to drive emissions out of supply chains, increasingly for smaller customers as well as global corporations.

The 50 largest US trucking operators increased combined revenue 7.4 percent in a recession as consumers drove frenzied freight demand.

Unadjusted US tonnage data from the American Trucking Associations shows freight returned to the highways after a frozen February, propelling truck spot pricing to a new ceiling.

Torch Logistics will use $3.5 million in seed funding to expand its short-haul truckload brokerage to capitalize on e-commerce demand.

Factoring solutions provider and lender eCapital saw an uptick in revenue in 2020 and is now merging its acquisitions under a single brand as it sees consolidation taking root in the logistics financial services space.

Funding for cross-border technology startup Nuvocargo continues a trend of investment into companies targeting the disjointed processes associated with US-Mexico logistics and transportation.

A veteran of freight broker GlobalTranz has landed an $8 million funding round to enhance a multi-carrier marketplace and transportation management system for less-than-truckload shippers.

Modal-switching technology tested by MIT and broker GlobalTranz is showing that shippers can save costs by grouping less-than-truckload linehaul freight to multi-stop truckloads.

Cross-border carriers lack a load board analogous to the widely-used tools available to drivers on US domestic moves, something the broker and technology provider Forager is attempting to address.

Investment continues to surge into technologies that enable small truckload carriers to improve administrative and operational aspects of their businesses, with SmartHop’s $12 million funding round the latest example.

Fewer trucking companies are responding to shipper bids, as contract truckload pricing rises by high single-digit percentage rates, Transplace executives said Tuesday.

A significant number of truckload shippers delayed annual bids with the largest US truck freight broker in the fourth quarter to avoid spiking contract rates.

Software providers say the proliferation of integrations between transportation management systems and domestic freight brokers in 2020 hints at a future in which a TMS will no longer be merely a static system, but a living platform.

European truckload broker sennder has vaulted into the upper reaches of venture capital-based logistics startups with a $160 million funding round and a $1 billion valuation.

The integration between AscendTMS’s widely-used transportation management software with predictive pricing and historical benchmark trucking data from DAT Solutions is a signal that users of such systems want more value piped directly into the platforms on which they rely.

The truck driver turnover rate is rising at truckload carriers as they compete for employees; that is spurring a new round of pay hikes for drivers.

Convoy is integrating with AscendTMS, another sign of the importance of enabling small truckload carriers with software to manage driver dispatch and scheduling, which helps give shippers electronic access to more capacity.

A technology-based freight broker has spun out its technology as a standalone transportation management system (TMS), signaling the need to better connect small carriers to surface capacity for shippers.

Interest in drop-and-hook programs continues to grow, with the broker Transfix now offering an “asset-like” service that it says it uses technology to find the right capacity for its shipper customers.

A tighter focus on transportation and technology following a corporate split will improve the service and experience XPO offers to shippers globally, the company and transportation analysts say

Although trucking employment is rising, the year-over-year gap is still large enough to throttle back capacity and keep pricing pressure on shippers.

XPO Logistics will be spun off into two separate businesses, one solely focused on US transportation and the other focusing on US and European contract logistics.

Freight broker Transfix will integrate predictive visibility data from project44 to augment its existing app-based GPS location data as part of a long-term agreement with the multimodal visibility provider.

Loadsmart more than tripled the amount of capital raised through a $90 million round announced Friday as it seeks to automate the brokerage and optimization of US domestic transport modes.

Convoy has seen considerable volume growth for a program under which loads are pre-staged for drivers, prompting the freight broker to develop more predictive capability to route empty equipment to shippers’ facilities.

Shippers will need to look not just at multiple transportation modes, but across modes, to secure capacity in 2021, digital broker Loadsmart said.