Surface

The partnership will see SMC3 provide less-than-truckload rating, booking and tracking data into Turvo’s transportation management system, which primarily serves US freight brokers and third-party logistics providers.

The expedited service will require terminals within the Northwest Seaport Alliance to load rail-bound trains within 48 hours of vessel arrival, significantly faster than the average dwell times of eight to 15 days experienced last year during a surge in container volumes.

The terminal operator says buying the railroad that connects ports on the canal’s Pacific and Atlantic sides fits into its overall strategy of offering more services to shippers.

As shippers race to get goods from Mexico and Canada into the US before full implementation of 25% tariffs Wednesday, they’re beginning to rethink supply chains.

The initiative, called RailGreen, will allow intermodal customers to purchase verified carbon certificates reflecting their use of lower-emission freight options.

Both volumes and rates in the flatbed sector of the truckload spot market are rising as importers rush industrial products through US ports and across the border.

The deal comes as the world’s largest container shipping company looks to establish a bigger foothold in surface transportation.

Excess capacity and waning US import demand caused in part by tariff uncertainty could put further downward pressure on drayage pricing in the second quarter.

The port authority on Wednesday completed an expansion of Inland Port Greer ahead of the opening of the near-dock Navy Base Intermodal Facility (NBIF) at the Port of Charleston later this year.

In a move to better utilize its leased pool of trailers, Uber Freight has partnered with software vendor Optimal Dynamics to bundle loads for drivers across 10 trailer pool locations.

Acquisitions continue in the domestic freight market, with Descartes buying 3GTMS to continue a decade-long spree of purchases.

While there is no strong demand trigger for LTL freight on the horizon, providers continue to add terminals and lanes to growing networks.

Despite the month-over-month downturn, Los Angeles-Long Beach volumes were higher than a year ago as Southern California’s freight boom did not begin until the second quarter of last year.

Groups representing transportation providers, retailers and manufacturers are calling for Congress to create a cargo theft task force blending the resources of multiple agencies as cargo crime spreads.

A revision to monthly employment data shows a smaller pool of employees at for-hire trucking companies and a potential tilt toward brokers and small carriers.

Executives from CSX and Norfolk Southern say that while the market is no longer as strongly pro-shipper as it was a year ago, conditions have yet to shift in favor of rail carriers.

Some analysts see green shoots that could signal higher US freight demand, but those encouraging signs remain fragile in an uncertain economy.

Reshuffling port calls because of a potential Trump administration fee on Chinese-built and -operated ships would place additional strain on the US intermodal supply chain, railroad executives say.

US-bound spot truck shipments from Canada are shrinking but rates are rising, while Mexico-US spot market shipments outpace pricing, according to DAT Freight & Analytics.

Domestic intermodal’s share of the US long-haul truck market has risen over the past two quarters, although that resiliency is going to be tested in the months to come, writes analyst Larry Gross.

The visibility market has bifurcated into standalone vendors too small to be captured by Gartner’s “Magic Quadrant” report and larger vendors whose platforms extend far beyond what the report evaluates.

Across all the terminals in Los Angeles and Long Beach, average rail dwell times peaked at just under 10 days in October, according to the Pacific Maritime Shipping Association.

Spot rates soared as the deadline for US tariffs approached this week, and now many shipments are stranded in transit, according to logistics providers.

Kate Farmer told TPM25 that people would be “shocked” at how much money the oft-targeted railroad spends on combating the increasingly sophisticated methods of cargo theft.

The Barstow International Gateway (BIG) could cut transit times on international intermodal business and increase the resiliency of Southern California ports during freight surges, BNSF CEO Kate Farmer said.

Truckload spot shipments and pricing in trade corridors such as Toronto-to-Chicago have soared since the US election, but the increases flow in both directions.

Acquisition activity in the truckload space continues, with price benchmarking vendor Greenscreens.ai the latest to sell.

A drop in consumer confidence, spurred by higher inflation and tariff fears, makes a significant increase in freight demand and truck rates less likely until late in 2025.

Tariff concerns and fears of labor unrest helped grow volumes at key ports along the West Coast last month, with the gains coming at the expense of the Northeast and mid-Atlantic.

Supply chain security technology provider Overhaul forecasts another big year for cargo theft in 2025, although not as big as a 49% year-over-year increase in 2024.

Dayton Freight Lines and A. Duie Pyle are partnering to provide next-day service from the East Coast to all parts of Ohio as shippers demand more speed.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration will accept additional comments on a proposed rule that would require brokers to make transactional data available to carriers.

The Journal of Commerce Truckload Capacity Index hit a 10-year low in the fourth quarter, but its rate of decline has slowed considerably as truckload pricing begins to rise from its bottom.

A 5.8% jump in the less-than-truckload producer price index in January accompanied growth in US manufacturing orders and output.

project44 is the latest established software provider to release a suite of artificial intelligence agents amid a torrent of startups building tools for logistics providers and shippers.

The latest Journal of Commerce Intermodal Service Scorecard shows how the performance of North American Class I railroads suffered due to congestion caused by high cargo volumes in Southern California and severe weather in the Southeast.

While trucking companies and intermodal carriers believe contract rates will rise this summer, shippers are skeptical given past predictions that have fallen by the wayside.

But Hackett Associates founder Ben Hackett said US port cargo “could be badly hit” if tariffs on Asian and European countries increase prices and prompt US consumers to buy less.

While tariffs and the trade wars that could result are indeed a serious matter, the direct effects of potential US tariffs on Canada and Mexico on the North American intermodal market would be “relatively minor,” writes Larry Gross.

The ocean carrier is diving into domestic intermodal logistics for shippers sending freight from inland markets to the West Coast.