Truckload

Shippers “will have to be innovative” to avoid delays caused by COVID-19 vaccine mandates for truck drivers crossing the US-Canadian border.

Increases in spot truckload rates to Chicago from eastern US ports are outpacing rate hikes off the West Coast, as the spot market enters 2022 at record price levels amid “extraordinary” demand.

Stoughton Trailers, one of two major 53-foot chassis manufacturers in the US, will open a production line in Texas, the third plant the Wisconsin-based company devoted to building chassis.

Railroads and chassis providers will deploy more than 10,000 domestic chassis next year to reduce supply chain congestion, which in turn should lower demurrage fees.

Bills in the US Senate and House have been introduced to establish a gray chassis pool in Memphis as proponents also push the issue before regulators.

NACPC, a trucker-owned chassis provider, is purchasing chassis manufacturer Pratt Industries, the first time a chassis provider has gotten directly involved in chassis production.

Several factors are diminishing shipper expectations for new truck capacity in 2022, as Class 8 truck production and delivery dates are pushed out more than a year and backlogs build.

Ashley Furniture has purchased Wilson Logistics, a large truckload and logistics provider in the western US, the second transaction in recent weeks of a cargo owner taking direct control of transportation.

Desire for “one-stop shopping” leads to the consolidation of Transport America and MCT with long-haul truckload carrier CFI to create a broader — not just bigger — trucking company.

Bigger than expected gains in warehousing and trucking in October are welcome amid ongoing reports of labor shortages.

The Biden administration’s COVID-19 vaccination and testing mandate for large employers will affect truck capacity and pricing, but questions about the extent of its impact remain.

While US chassis manufacturers have significantly ramped up production in the last six months, some marine and domestic chassis orders placed this year won’t be fulfilled into the second half of 2022.

A survey of independent truckers and small trucking firms by Truckstop.com and Bloomberg Intelligence found them optimistic about the potential for higher contract and spot rates next year.

A truck driver survey underscores the threat of potential service disruptions from an upcoming US vaccine mandate for large employers, with 36 percent of drivers showing no interest in vaccination.

Trucking companies are seeking an exemption to the COVID-19 vaccine mandate being implemented by the US government for large employers, which they say would further disrupt already tight US trucking capacity.

Truckload pricing will continue to rise into 2022, with the “deflationary leg” of the market starting in the second quarter next year, Coyote Logistics said in its latest Coyote Curve forecast.

The ongoing semiconductor shortage is reducing deliveries of new trucks in North America and threatening the addition of much-needed capacity in 2022, and perhaps beyond.

Demand and disruption are fueling growth at both Knight-Swift Transportation and Landstar System, neither of which see a reduction in demand or pricing in a changing truckload landscape.

A flood of imports into the Pacific Northwest is boosting spot truckload rates out of Seattle as shippers facing delays and intermodal container shortages seek new routes for freight moving inland.

The for-hire trucking industry lost 1,600 jobs last month, but the Labor Department expected a bigger drop, as transit, warehousing and courier employment surged.

The backlog of freight in Southern California is forcing more shippers to the truckload spot market as they search for any available capacity to speed goods inland.

Digital brokerage Loadsmart and Home Depot are launching an automated, supply-led flatbed booking platform that will help the retailer “share” its dedicated truck capacity with other shippers.

Although national spot rate averages are flat, significant increases in dry-van truckload volumes from US ports are tightening pricing pressure in long-haul lanes as importers rush goods further inland.

Trucking equipment manufacturers are raking in new orders for trailers and tractors, but it may be well into 2022 before they roll off production lines ready to move freight.

Jam-packed West Coast warehouses are pushing more freight inland earlier, raising spot prices and expedited trucking costs in lanes out of the Los Angeles region faster than expected.

A rapid evolution in how US shippers contract with truckload carriers is driving growth at Emerge and drawing $130 million in fresh private equity funding to its digital procurement platform.

Demand fueled tonnage growth at for-hire contract carriers in August, according to the American Trucking Associations, but supply chain disruption and shortages still constrain overall capacity.

With shippers facing crippling congestion in Southern California, the Port of New York and New Jersey is seeing more volume and the demand has spilled over to long-haul trucking.

Iowa-based CRST is installing a telematics-based fleet management system the truckload carrier claims will benefit both drivers and shippers seeking supply chain intelligence.

Chemicals transportation and logistics specialist A&R Logistics is rebranding and reorganizing as Quantix, adding trucking assets to meet growing demand from shippers.

Shippers will see spot market truck rates rise in lanes across the US as Hurricane Ida’s powerful punch adds to growing supply chain disruption.

Instead of waiting for autonomous trucks, shippers starving for capacity should automate processes starting with freight pickup and delivery to save drivers time, says MIT FreightLab’s co-director.

Johnsonville Transport & Logistics, an arm of Wisconsin-based sausage giant Johnsonville, is looking to collaborate with its retail customers and other food shippers and carriers to solve truck capacity, delivery challenges.

With ocean carriers pushing importers toward transloading in California amid record-high spot intermodal rates, trucks are becoming a hot commodity in Los Angeles in August.

Forget the fall, the peak US truck shipping season is under way now, trucking analysts say, with spot truckload rates elevated and contract rates still climbing.

US retail sales, excluding autos, are rising faster than inventories, even where inventories are increasing, and that’s putting more pressure on over-stressed supply chains and trucking capacity.

Tight intermodal rail capacity and a massive wave of US imports are encouraging transloading to trucks and boosting truckload spot rates from Southern California to inland distribution points.

Tight intermodal rail capacity and a massive wave of US imports are encouraging transloading to trucks and boosting truckload spot rates from Southern California to inland distribution points.

J.B. Hunt says shippers and railroads must improve how quickly they process containers to prevent a peak season supply chain meltdown.

Truckload rates should begin to flatten as freight volumes and networks “max out,” but shippers shouldn’t expect pricing to slip very far, Michigan State University’s Jason Miller tells JOC.com.