Truck brokers

Widespread business shutdowns will plunge third-party logistics providers and truck freight brokers into “trench warfare” over pricing, and contribute to bankruptcies that could threaten capacity.

Demand to haul essential freight into areas of the US most affected by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak is soaring this month, causing rates to climb and driver detention to increase, and resulting in difficult conversations between brokers and shippers.

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.

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.

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.

Dedicated contract carriage, final-mile service, and a digital marketplace helped carry J.B. Hunt through a tough fourth-quarter intermodal and trucking market.

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.

The freight broker GlobalTranz is expanding its reach in the managed transportation services market with the acquisition of Cerasis, a broker that effectively acts as provider of transportation management software and often runs the software for its less-than-truckload, parcel, and final mile customers.

Shippers retain substantial pricing power despite a recent spike in truckload spot rates, which appear to be settling near recent highs that are still below year-ago levels.

The high-profile financial failings of so-called disruptors like Uber, Lyft, Grubhub, Blue Apron, and WeWork should serve as a warning to investors in the budding digital freight brokerage space.

Virtually every notable new domestic freight broker in the US tied up at least one direct integration with a major transportation management system (TMS) provider in 2019, a trend that will likely continue in the coming years.

While carriers have long had options to get paid quicker than payment terms would guarantee -- by accepting a discount on invoices -- freight broker LoadDelivered is testing whether drivers would trade early payment for providing visibility and capacity loyalty.

Seattle-based Convoy is challenging freight brokerage incumbents by saying it has developed capability to automate freight matching and pricing in widely-used US truckload lanes.

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.

The number of speeding violations handed to US truck drivers jumped 7.8 percent in 2018, but speeding has been a problem since long before that. Shippers need to help solve it.

Regulators are accepting comments on a petition to exempt small carriers from the ELD mandate, as the final compliance deadline for truck drivers and carriers approaches.

Freight brokers believe spot market rates will remain lower than historical norms through the first half of 2020 despite a recent seasonal bump in rates.

Shippers are being urged to plan carefully for 2020, as signs begin to indicate the US truck market may swing again next year.

The Reston, Virginia-based software supplier’s new “Book it Now” feature adds an execution element to its existing load-matching capabilities.

Seven of the top 10 critical issues facing trucking directly involve truck drivers, with pay and detention joining the American Transportation Research Institute’s annual list.

Convoy is releasing a new transportation management system for shippers relying on spreadsheets and emails -- a free software option that provides access to Convoy quotes and booking.

The San Francisco-based company, which launched its freight division in 2016, will expand its existing operations in Chicago, including housing its first engineering department outside of the San Francisco area. Uber Freight currently operates from offices in San Francisco, Chicago and Amsterdam.

The number of US trucking companies rose by more than 21,000 in the year between June 2018 and this June, even as low spot-market pricing increased pressure on smaller fleets.

The 2019 JOC Directory of Trucking Companies is a one-stop source of information for North American shippers and third-party logistics providers on nearly 180 select trucking companies in the United States and Canada.

Landstar System and Echo Global Logistics reported lower second-quarter earnings, while 3PLS are uncertain whether the malaise will linger through the end of this year.

Truckload carriers surveyed by Cowen & Co. are banking on a stronger second half and expect contract rates to rise 2.7 percent on average over the next six months.

Transportation consulting firm Trans-Logistics Group is expanding its advisory services for US freight shippers, opening an office in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

Historically, intermodal rail has offered a slower, lower-cost option for shippers, but with truckload prices falling, intermodal rail is now more expensive than trucking in some secondary markets.

US shippers have pricing power over truckers now, but their advantage may slip away by the end of 2019, Coyote Logistics warns.

XPO Logistics CEO Brad Jacobs says the company has “gotten its mojo back” after losing a $600 million account, and although there is plenty of data to suggest XPO will be fine in the long term, there are still some concerns that the road ahead will be bumpy.

Speculation has run rampant over the past three years that the e-commerce giant would eventually compete with the parcel carriers that move its freight, but it turns out Amazon actually has its sights set on the brokerage market.

Uber Freight has established a direct integration into SAP’s widely used TMS, enabling the digital broker to expand the demand side of its marketplace and SAP users to tap into Uber’s driver network.

A drop in the number of truckers at the smallest US trucking companies could indicate a market shift toward large carriers as spot truckload rates seek bottom.

With a majority stake in Truckstop.com, ICONIQ Capital will fuel the development of the load-matching firm's technology services to help simplify capacity procurement.

After a year of beta testing, Leaf Logistics is on the verge of opening a forward trucking contract market, and the Nodal Exchange on Friday will launch a freight futures market supplied with truckload data from FreightWaves and DAT Solutions.