Truckload

Rising industrial freight volumes will keep pressure on truckload capacity and pricing in 2021, even if demand for goods peaks, according to FTR Transport Intelligence analysts.

A chassis shortage has caused some containers to idle at BNSF’s ramp in St. Paul, Minnesota, an offshoot of the congestion in Chicago, but not as disruptive given the relative small rail volume in the Twin Cities.

High demand for consumer goods and tight capacity will keep pressure on US contract and spot truckload rates in the early part of 2021, but pricing could begin to recede again by mid-year.

Trucking’s peak season extended well into December, blunting a seasonal decline in actual trucking employment numbers and boosting seasonally adjusted job gains, according to data released Friday.

The chassis network on the East Coast has held up during the recent import surge due to better communication and data, and more reliable equipment.

After battling a huge surge in container traffic and labor shortages in rail yards, drayage, and receiver docks during the second half of 2020, US chassis providers are expanding their fleets.

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.

COVID-19 and the wave of imports reaching the US will keep pressure on transportation capacity and pricing, from ports to the last mile, shippers warned Tuesday.

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

US shippers’ acute need for truck capacity is driving activity in the dedicated contract carriage market, including Penske Logistics’ acquisition of Black Horse Carriers.

Higher pay is just a starting point for the solution to a resurgent driver shortage, J.B. Hunt’s Shelley Simpson tells the JOC Inland Distribution Webcast. Greater efficiencies, more shipper cooperation are key to improving driver jobs.

As contract freight volumes begin to rise year over year, more pressure will come to bear on contract truckload rates, DAT’s Chris Caplice told the JOC Inland Distribution Webcast.

The number of new operating authorities issued to US trucking companies is surging alongside imports, but that doesn’t necessarily mean truckload capacity is increasing.

Capacity remains king in the US truckload market, as larger carriers face challenges hiring company drivers and owner-operators seek independent opportunities.

J.B. Hunt said intermodal results were worse than anticipated because of major network congestion in rail terminals and shippers sitting on containers, which may not ease until 2021.

The long run-up in spot market truckload rates and truck freight demand may be reaching its peak, but don’t expect a quick descent, speakers at the Transplace Shipper Symposium said Wednesday.

An analysis of shipper transaction data shows a marked slowing of spot market rate hikes in September after a turbulent summer, perhaps pumping the brakes on the rise of contract rates

Shippers are modifying their approach to truckload contracting, using more short-term “mini-bids” than ever before and turning to technology to improve a process that often breaks down when market prices swing quickly.

As capacity tightens at the US-Mexico border, truckload carrier CFI is building a series of consolidation centers to expand its efforts to capture Mexico-bound less-than-truckload freight and provide shippers with more capacity.

Logistics executives do not expect spot truckload rates to soar much higher, but they do not think they will drop either, forcing shippers to collaborate more.

DCLI is ending contracts with NVOCCs because it believes truckers are better partners in the merchant haulage business, but other chassis providers will not follow suit and plan to keep conducting business with everyone.

The new rate differential tracked by DAT chief scientist Chris Caplice is rising at a faster pace, a sign that shippers will see a greater increase in truckload contract rates.

Shippers moving to mini-bids as truck capacity tightens need more detailed and near-real-time data to match freight lanes and tractor-trailers.

TRAC chassis are in short supply in Columbus, Ohio, because the equipment provider said repairs were necessary on chassis returned from the cooperative pool that was disbanded last month.

Rising local trucking employment in the US and higher pricing highlights a shifting balance in transportation networks accelerated by double-digit growth in e-commerce sales.

US shippers are returning to the ‘shipper of choice’ model as a peak season unlike any other looms ahead, trucking executives told the virtual CSCMP 2020 Edge conference this week.

Large truckload carriers made their deepest capacity cuts in a decade in the second quarter, the JOC Truckload Capacity Index shows; they’re not likely to restore capacity quickly.

US producer price indexes for August showed a marked jump in local trucking costs, likely due to increased demand for service between ports, warehouses, and distribution and fulfillment centers as e-commerce demand spurred imports.

Contract truck rates are rising because shippers are struggling to find available capacity and asking carriers what it will take to get their freight moving.

The flood of imports to Los Angeles and Long Beach this summer is squeezing truckload and LTL capacity on inland truck routes, more than doubling spot rates to Chicago, as intermodal capacity and e-commerce deadlines remain tight.

Truckload freight volumes are still increasing overall, but not at the frenetic pace of July, supply chain visibility provider FourKites says. That's a sign supply chains are "rebalancing," though spot pricing remains elevated.

Companies able to field large numbers of trucks are no longer cutting back, but with high demand, additional capacity will come at a price to shippers.

Supply chain disruption and the spread of COVID-19 may have limited carrier ability to add drivers and other employees last month, despite heightened demand.

Despite an unexpected uptick in intermodal volume to close the second quarter, J.B. Hunt Transport Services says third-quarter consumer demand remains unpredictable due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The continuing surge in COVID-19 cases acts as an anchor on the economic recovery and could turn a U-shaped recovery into a W-shaped one, IHS Markit’s chief economist warns.

US Payroll Protection Program loans, once forgiven, will give small trucking outfits a chance to invest in much-needed technology, a tax and accounting advisory firm says.

A large chunk of the US trucking sector is riding on Payroll Protection Program loans, which likely averted a capacity crunch in June and may still be shielding shippers this fall.

A founder with lineage in the freight optimization space has started a new technology provider to help trucking companies better account for unknown variables in their network planning.

Shippers are rethinking both long-term and short-term truckload contracting and pricing strategies as freight levels rise from spring’s recessionary lows.

Bankrupt Comcar sells its dry-van and refrigerated trucking subsidiary to Canada’s largest transportation company, which is expanding its presence in the United States.