Trucking News

Although the less-than-truckload sector is experiencing unprecedented growth thanks to changes in the e-commerce supply chain, it is still operating with the shackles of decades past and has largely been shielded from new entrants.

Visibility into inventory levels is helping retailers to better position stocks closer to customers while providing more last-mile delivery options.

The rise of e-commerce is leading to growing competition for long-haul truck drivers from local and short-haul businesses, according to a study from Coyote Logistics and Emsi.

Shippers are adding regional, local, and crowd-sourced carriers to the mix of last-mile providers to mitigate costs and delays, TPM21 panelists said.

US freight demand is “through the roof” after supply chains broke down during February’s winter storms, trucking companies say. More freight may be shifting from spot markets to contractual partners as networks are restored.

Small regional or localized LTL carriers may also be riding the e-commerce wave, providing capacity for local fulfillment and delivery, while their larger competitors carve out middle-mile business.

Greater use of drop trailer pools and e-commerce sales are generating demand for yard drivers — also referred to as hostlers — to handle trailers at warehouses and distribution centers, but those drivers are in short supply.

The transportation and warehousing sector lost fewer jobs than anticipated in February, but trucking companies saw deeper than expected job losses in a storm-wracked month.

Freight broker Tucker Company said COVID-19 pushed truck drivers to make the switch to larger carriers, but the rise in spot trucking rates is likely to swing them back to smaller fleets.

The digitization of truck manufacturing will directly benefit shippers by creating more capacity and making more capacity readily available, a study by IBM suggests.

To secure capacity, truck shippers must offer freight that ‘fits’ a carrier’s network of lanes, vehicles, and drivers, speakers at a virtual TPM21 panel said.

Old Dominion Freight Line in February handled more and heavier LTL shipments than a year ago as shippers hit hard by winter storms searched for truck capacity.

Knight Swift CEO Dave Jackson tells JOC’s virtual TPM21 conference that trailer pools, agility, and long-term thinking is the way carriers and shippers can reduce the wild swings seen in trucking rates since 2017.

COVID-related dock bans on truck drivers and greater use of digital receipts are leading to more clashes over short or damaged shipments, according to speakers at a T&LC webinar.

FloorFound partners with a network of transportation and logistics providers to handle the return — or resale — of oversized e-commerce goods such as furniture and appliances.

Truckload carrier Werner Enterprises is expanding its Edge technology platform to brokerage partners and shippers, tightening its focus on landside logistics after offloading its ocean and air forwarding unit.

Less-than-truckload carrier Yellow is opening 12 driver training schools as operators across the US trucking industry are struggling to find enough experienced drivers to satisfy growing industrial and retail freight demand.

Relay Payments is expanding its "lumper payment" platform, allowing truck carriers and brokers to automate the settlement of cargo unloading fees to receiving facilities.

Texas is the epicenter of supply-chain damage caused by Winter Storm Uri, but the disruption is being felt nationwide. Mexican imports by truck may be delayed for days.

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.

A growing gap between inventory and sales in many US business sectors is projected to drive replenishment, expedited shipping, and high levels of imports for months to come.

Old Dominion Freight Line is closely following big box retail customers, adding new service centers as e-commerce spurs construction of new distribution centers.

Increasing US truck freight demand from ports to factories may slow the decline in spot truckload rates seen by DAT, while contract motor carriers take on more business.

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.

The loss of 84,300 trucking and warehousing jobs in January -- actual numbers before seasonal adjustment -- makes prospects for tighter capacity and higher rates for US shippers in the months ahead more certain.

The former YRC Worldwide is expanding, not shrinking, Yellow CEO Darren Hawkins says, with plans for streamlined pricing and more regional services as it radically overhauls its business.

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.

Policy experts told the virtual SMC3 Jump Start 2021 conference they expect a renewed push to limit truck driver hours of service, but also truck driver detention, during the Biden administration.

Another new entrant in the small carrier TMS space, Dallas-based Axele, portends more market structure and available capacity for shippers to tap into.

A surge in demand for Shipwell’s technology-focused managed transportation approach, with freight under management tripling in 2020, is a sign of shippers’ increased reliance on an outsourced approach to logistics.

Additional acquisitions will fuel growth for both XPO’s transportation and contract logistics businesses, soon to be separate companies, chairman and CEO Bradley S. Jacobs said.

The sale of its $3.1 billion less-than-truckload (LTL) subsidiary narrows UPS’s focus and gives TFI International a much bigger presence in the North American LTL market, from Canada to Mexico.

Companies such as Werner Enterprises, Schneider National, and U.S. Xpress are taking an active role in the development of autonomous trucks, but not, they say, to replace drivers.

Motor carriers must do more than raise driver pay to counteract the current shortfall, including driving greater efficiency in their networks and at shipper facilities to allow existing truckers to make more trips in a given day.

US truckload carrier Heartland Express improved revenue and profit in the most recent quarter and is raising driver pay, investing in new equipment, and focusing on improved utilization in 2021.

After a sharp rebound in freight demand in the second half of 2020, US less-than-truckload (LTL) operators are operating more profitably and seeking higher rates for 2021, while shippers are prioritizing capacity and on-time performance.

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.

More than half of 300 retailers responding to a recent survey cited increasing delivery costs as a major challenge in meeting growing e-commerce demand.