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ACT Research expects the number of active Class 8 tractors in the U.S. to climb from 1.35 million last year to 1.43 million this year, but faster economic growth and a driver shortage could blunt any advantage for shippers.

U.S. shipment volumes and spending rose in April from March, but were down year-over-year, thanks to tough comparisons with a booming economy in 2014, Cass Information Systems said. The freight payment provider expects more growth ahead.

The JOC Truckload Capacity Index neared a six-year high as large truckload carriers added equipment, largely to dedicated operations, in the first quarter of 2015. That gave U.S. shippers some relief from landside capacity constraints that tightened in 2014.

U.S. trucking companies added 1,900 jobs in April, reversing a sharp decline in March and boosting the JOC For-Hire Trucking Employment Index to 99.5 -- near its pre-recession peak.

Strong gains in chemical manufacturing make chemicals hauler Quality Distribution an attractive acquisition target for a private equity firm such as Apax Partners. Expect Apax to help fuel Quality's expansion through additional acquisitions.

CSX Transportation unveiled a new intermodal terminal just outside of Montreal Monday, giving the Jackonsville, Fla.-based railway easy access to the Eastern Canadian market.

The total revenue of U.S. trucking operators, for-hire and private, broke higher than $700 billion for the first time last year, as a stronger economy generated freight and supported higher truck pricing.

The German rail freight network is struggling to return to normal as train drivers return to work after a near one week strike that severely disrupted industrial supply chains in Europe’s largest economy.

The Alameda Corridor Transportation Authority had a good year in 2014 in terms of the number of containers it handled and the revenue it generated, but if ACTA is going to stay on track for debt servicing, container volume moving through the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach must get back to 5 percent annual growth.

German train drivers will continue their strike until Sunday after their union today rejected a proposal from Deutsche Bahn, the state-owned railway, for an independent mediator to help resolve their dispute.

Waberer’s International, one of Europe’s largest trucking operators, is purchasing 500 new trailers as it expands business in Germany and its freight-hauling network in western Europe.

A week-long strike by German locomotive drivers that is scheduled to run until Sunday could be called off earlier as their union considers calls for an independent mediator to settle the dispute with Deutsche Bahn, the state-owned railway company.

USA Truck posted its first profitable first quarter in eight years this week. It also marks the fourth consecutive profitable quarter for the firm as it pursues a new corporate strategy as a “capacity solutions provider,” the company said.

Rail logistics provider Tiger Cool Express is making strides with equipment purchases and a growing customer base. Its success is all the more impressive given that service from Class I freight railroads experienced a difficult 2014 and continues to struggle. Cool Cargoes spoke with CEO Tom Finkbiner to get his take on where the intermodal rail industry is failing and how and where it can make improvements to better support time- and temperature-sensitive shipments such as fresh produce.

West Coast port congestion hit international shipment volume hard and affected domestic volume during the opening months of 2015, the Intermodal Association of North America said in its latest quarterly analysis.

Fresh off the announcement of yet another acquisition, XPO Logistics’ hunger can’t be sated with CEO Bradley Jacobs eying more deals in Europe and North America.

Canadian trucking operator Manitoulin Group acquired Ridsdale Transport, a less-than-truckload carrier based in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. The acquisition makes Manitoulin the province’s largest transportation provider, the company said.

A change in truck driver hours-of-service rules and a slower-than-expected economy delivered additional “surge capacity” to shippers in the first quarter, Noël Perry said at the 2015 ALK Transportation Technology Summit in Princeton, New Jersey, on Tuesday.

There’s a silver lining in every sky-high stack of containers — if you’re an expedited trucking company. For carriers that move goods quickly by any and all means possible, the container logjam that built up during the West Coast port labor dispute was simply a bonanza.

BNSF Railway’s net first-quarter earnings jumped 44 percent to $1 billion despite West Coast port congestion that pulled down its intermodal volume roughly 5.5 percent in the period.

For the first time in seven years, ArcBest Corporation posted a first-quarter profit, thanks in large part to competitive pricing in spite of diminishing volumes, the company said Monday.

German locomotive drivers began near week-long strike Monday afternoon that threatens to clog container yards at the country’s leading ports and cause massive disruption to industrial supply chains across Europe’s largest economy.

More driving schools, acquisitions and an expanded owner-operator fleet helped Celadon Trucking field more capacity and increase revenue and profit in the first quarter.

Delays in processing high volumes of containers at West Coast warehouses and DCs point to the need for better packing and loading of containers in Asia, a trucking executive says.

YRC Worldwide is "transitioning to a state of profitability," cutting freight that won't pay its way and raising prices. The LTL operator is willing to accept fewer shipments and less revenue if its bottom line can eventually come out on top.

Europe's largest inland port to grow as ultra-large container ships arrive at north European ports.

Despite sluggish volumes, higher pricing helped boost first-quarter earnings to record levels, freight carrier Saia reported this week.

Old Dominion Freight Line didn't brake for the general slowdown apparent in first-quarter U.S. GDP. The less-than-truckload carrier reinvested earnings in expansion.

Strong growth across multiple segments, especially intermodal, helped India’s Gateway Distriparks Ltd. deliver impressive results in fiscal year 2014-15, which ended March 31.

UPS Freight is adding liquefied natural gas-powered tractors to its less-than-truckload fleet, cutting emissions and, hopefully, long-term term fuel costs. Shippers still want trucking partners to help them reach sustainability goals.

The softening U.S. truckload spot market and more balanced capacity point to shippers seeking to secure more trucks from asset-based contractual partners.

Norfolk Southern Corp.’s earnings fell 16 percent in the first quarter on weak intermodal volumes and a struggling coal market, the company reported Wednesday.

As the U.S. economy came screeching to a halt in the first quarter — at least those parts that contribute to gross domestic product growth — UPS improved revenue, shipment volumes and profit, a sign that things may not be as bad as the economic indicators seem to say.

Picketing by truck drivers seeking union status continued Tuesday at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, indicating that the campaign by the Teamsters union to organize harbor truckers throughout the harbor is not going away anytime soon.

Swift Transportation will hike driver pay for the second time in less than a year as it plans to expand truck capacity 4.5 percent across multiple divisions in 2015. Expect shipper rates to keep pace.

General Mills will be the first tenant at a tri-modal logistics facility near Manchester, England, set to open next year. The inland port will offer rail, truck and short-sea shipping links.

Available warehousing and distribution space is getting harder to find and more expensive as demand outpaces construction, according to Jones Lang LaSalle.