Surface

The intermodal routing option from Canada to the Midwest began to fall out of favor beginning in 2021 and accelerated in late 2022 when ISO containers moving in the lane fell below levels last seen six years ago.

Jack Cooper Transport wants to outbid other truckers for the assets of the bankrupt less-than-truckload provider, but it’s not clear how the bid would work.

The new north-south service will begin next week with trial runs transporting perishable goods out of Latin America to Chicago.

The cracks in the gateway’s attractiveness to importers and exporters out of the US Midwest were showing before this July’s work stoppage and the decline in import demand across North America.

An uptick in the West Coast share of Asian imports has already translated into heightened demand for surface transportation.

The premium service run by the long-time partners aims to capture so-called just-in-time cargo that has historically been shipped via truck.

Once fully complete by 2025, the current expansion project would allow the port to handle 1.1 million TEUs annually, up from 650,000 TEUs.

The largest US freight broker expects more companies to follow Convoy and exit the market as demand remains weak and rates stay low. 

Freight forwarder Omni isn’t giving up on a merger with Forward and is moving to force completion of the deal despite Forward’s cold feet. 

It is unlikely that supply and demand for dry van trucking will reach an equilibrium before the second quarter of 2024, and that is likely an optimistic date, writes analyst Jason Miller.

With hundreds of terminals on the market, LTL trucking companies are setting their sights on Yellow’s sites and other properties as they expand and optimize networks to handle more freight.

The new pool will generate options for truckers and cargo owners moving ocean containers through the major inland market.

Hub Group said its intermodal business trailed competitors in the third quarter despite a mini-peak that developed in Southern California in September.

The apparent change of heart from Forward management comes as Forward activist investors opposed to the $150 million deal try to oust the company’s chief executive.

Less-than-truckload freight once hauled by Yellow is being “reallocated” among carriers, and rates are rising, but an underlying economic impetus for a surge in LTL demand is still missing.

International intermodal volume in North America fell in the third quarter year over year, but there are glimmers of optimism among some US railroads.

The demise of truckload broker Convoy has highlighted how difficult it is to create differentiation in a market with no dominant player, with Convoy itself to blame for stoking more competition through its technology focus.

US truckload shippers are showing more “sensitivity” to supply and service issues, supporting a new spot market pricing floor but not giving rates much lift, according to trucking and logistics executives.

Transfix’s investment being announced on the same day Convoy told employees it was winding down operations highlights some of the differences between members of a group broadly defined as “digital brokers.”

Construction of the C$750 million, 400,000-TEU facility for Canadian and US agricultural and resin exports will be key to achieving more balanced two-way trade through the Western Canadian port.

While sudden, the impact of Convoy shutting its business should be muted in a truckload brokerage market where shippers have access to low spot rates and plentiful capacity.

The company has long been a lightning rod in the truckload industry, one of a cohort of so-called digital brokers to emerge in the 2010s backed by venture capital investors with an ambition to make the industry more efficient through digitizing processes.

Despite reporting lackluster third-quarter financial results, the intermodal service provider is cautiously optimistic that the worst of the US freight recession is in the past.

Ancora Alternatives is seeking a special shareholder meeting to replace members of Forward’s board of directors, including CEO Tom Schmitt, with the ultimate goal of killing the acquisition of Omni, which Ancora blames for a steep drop in Forward’s stock value. 

State truck inspections are adding to existing problems clearing rising amounts of freight entering the US from Mexico as migrant numbers arriving at the US border surge.

It appears Mexico is beginning to fulfill its growth potential for domestic intermodal, with asset-based carriers ramping up their activity within the country and in the cross-border market, writes analyst Larry Gross.

The bidding process needs to be “revolutionized” to save shippers money, with more emphasis on strategic relationships, speakers said at the NITL Engage Conference.

A number of multistory warehouses are planned for urban areas around the US as developers say dependable, same-day delivery in congested cities outweighs the higher costs involved in constructing two- to five-story structures.

Tri-Cities Intermodal said it will revive plans to refurbish a cold storage warehouse and rail ramp served by Union Pacific’s intermodal service.

Motor carriers may be concerned that in what is still a tight job market, any employees who are let go temporarily would not be available when demand rises again.

US exporters had limited options to send westbound freight in recent years under precision scheduled railroading, but railroads are beginning to restore some services in a bid to improve relations with shippers.

The fourth-largest US less-than-truckload carrier said it had restored many of its core systems by Sunday, while continuing to pick up and deliver freight despite a week of disruption.

While no one knows the best solution to reduce greenhouse gases emitted by trucks and trains, several technologies are being tested to find the right answers.

The chairman of the Federal Maritime Commission wants to thread the needle to find a way to address rail demurrage within the confines of the US Shipping Act, but it’s not an easy proposition.

While light commercial vehicles are not typically used on a large scale by the ocean carrier, it has a significant landside presence where the electric vehicles could be used to lower emissions.

The tone of the recent event was “very dark,” writes analyst Ted Prince, who says the combination of a good economy but low volumes has created widespread confusion in the intermodal sector.

The shipping giant is running four dry-van round trips each week on the approximately 400-mile route between the two cities.

Transit times are still in flux, but UP believes the service will take seven to eight days to Atlanta and an additional one or two days to Charlotte and South Florida.

Excess capacity in the truckload market is a chance for shippers to examine whether they or their freight brokers have the right technology tools to effectively price in the contract and spot markets.

Brokered LTL freight may be the first freight diverted away from Estes, and it may be harder for those transactional shipments to find alternate carriers.