Truckload

A reporter’s notebook from this week’s Transportation & Logistics Council meeting shows shippers and their suppliers grappling with big trends and fine details, from e-commerce to freight claims.

After two years in an economic rut, US trucking accelerated in 2017, led by less-than-truckload carriers before truckload carriers merged into the same fast lane later in the year.

Abilene Motor Express, based in Richmond, Virginia, operates about 450 trucks with most of its business in the dry van and refrigerated space.

Agricultural shippers, especially livestock owners, and truckers will get some relief this produce season via an extension of a temporary waiver of the ELD mandate. Other groups are pressing for longer waivers, as the rollout of the ELD mandate throws supply chains out of whack.

Shippers saw very little pricing relief last month that, although down from January, was 20 to 35 percent higher than February 2017. With produce season appearing to have begun earlier, rates on the spot and contract markets are likely to be up double digits on some lanes for the foreseeable future.

In what is typically the slow season for US truckload shipping, carriers are levying surcharges and rejecting shipments.

Drivers who complete 8,750 miles in a month will get a penny more. An additional cent is tacked onto the bonus for each 750 miles beyond that point.

Hub Group is levying surcharges on some shippers in Chicago, LA, Seattle, Dallas, and Atlanta on excess freight. Shippers said the fees range from $150 to $600. J.B. Hunt is also limiting the amount of excess freight accepted from shippers in certain markets but has not instituted surcharges.

National drayage company adds third company in its drive to expand through organic growth and acquisitions.

US shippers and other e-commerce parties take note: freight demand, still strong in January, will raise contract rates in the coming quarters, truckload carrier Werner Enterprises has warned.

The acquisition of Direct Right Cartage, which occurs as Canadian demand for intermodal climbs, helps expand Manitoulin Transport's links between Western and Central Canada.

DCLI now owns, leases, or manages approximately 136,000 marine chassis, as well as approximately 80,000 domestic chassis, for a total of more than 216,000 units.

Capacity, not price, is king once again.

Nearly nine years after ocean carriers began transferring their chassis to lessors, beneficial cargo owners, truckers, and other supply chain participants are still wrestling with issues of cost, control, and choice, amid a fragmented system.

NACPC's cooperative chassis business model has been a catalyst for improving chassis quality — and at a modest cost to shippers.

US truck orders soar, but truckload capacity stays tight.

“Even without the hurricane it still would have been difficult to get these loads moved.”

False logs are an "epidemic," and shippers are vulnerable, speakers tell the JOC Inland Distribution Conference. The latest federal data back them up.

Anheuser-Busch InBev seeks a special ingredient that would make its supply chain flow as smoothly and freely as lager from a tap: dynamic, real-time shipment data.

Growth in truckload pricing is accelerating.

Third-quarter earnings reports reveal across-the-board increases in transportation rates, with little sign pressure will ease soon.

The second-largest US provider of chassis, Direct ChassisLink Inc., has agreed to acquire the domestic fleet of the sector’s top provider.

US truck tonnage slipped slightly less than 1 percent in September, following hurricanes Harvey and Irma, but year-over-year data shows a significant long-term increase in freight volumes.

The move is in response to signs that carriers are moving away from providing gensets.

"Relentless" investment in equipment, higher driver pay help boost capacity, revenue, profit for Werner.

After climbing for seven straight weeks, US spot truckload rates stalled last week, but remain higher than usual for early October. DAT Solutions expects spot pricing to keep climbing.

Higher third-quarter operating costs at J.B. Hunt, especially costs related to drivers and empty trucks, show why US shippers should be concerned about truck and intermodal pricing.

The truckload spot market that burned hot through the summer continued to heat up in September.

The pool is the latest sign of the strong demand for chassis with radial tires and LED lights.

The number of loads available per truck shot up from July to August, in advance of typical peak season trends. Truckers are betting on sustained volumes.

Truckload freight demand was already nearing peak fall levels in August, Werner’s Derek Leathers said, and hurricanes only increased pressure on capacity and pricing.

Call it an "obsession." Amazon's dedication to fulfilling customer expectations is turning a wheel of logistics growth that is not likely to stop.

Addition of 10-4 Systems to division offering carrier technologies promises greater blending of services across supply chains.

The American Logistics Aid Network calls relief demand "unprecedented" in wake of Harvey, Irma as it seeks supply chain support.

The Daseke-R&R deal shows that the transportation merger and acquisition market remains hot.

C.H. Robinson, with roots in the US produce and truckload markets stretching back to 1905, has been building business outside the US for decades.

Ryder System and Chanje see opportunity for electric commercial vehicles in rapid growth of "final-mile" delivery business.

Does an atypically "robust" summer for US freight demand signal higher road and rail rates ahead for shippers?

In technology speak, the collecting of data from ELDs is part of the so-called Internet or Network of Things.

Shippers need to plan for multiple challenges when the electronic logging mandate takes effect.