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Canada and U.S. shippers expect to ship more volume via the Class I railroads next year and pay more to do so, but they’re still frustrated with the level of rail service, according to a recently released survey from RBC Capital Markets.

The Teamsters union drive to organize FedEx Freight, the largest U.S. less-than-truckload carrier is hitting a few roadblocks. The union withdrew an election petition at the less-than-truckload carrier’s Nashville, Tennessee, terminal this week.

Landstar System on Wednesday narrowed its fourth quarter revenue forecast to the higher end of a range after seeing strong trucking demand in October and November, the latest sign of a steadily expanding U.S. economy pushing more freight into the arms of motor carriers.

A decline in U.S. intermodal traffic on a week-to-week basis, because of the Thanksgiving weekend, allowed the railroads to improve a key metric of intermodal rail service.

Net orders for Class 8 trucks in North America topped 40,000 units in November for the second straight month, reflecting motor carriers’ expectations for freight growth in 2015 and broader economic expansion.

The proposed acquisition of truck brokerage Freightquote.com is much more than attempt by C.H. Robinson to gain more business or e-commerce sales; the $365 million deal underscores and perhaps accelerates a major change in the U.S. less-than-truckload market.

The U.S. trucking industry is committing to hire 100,000 military veterans over the next two years to fight a shortage of truck drivers as the military begins to reduce the number of active service members.

Manitoulin Global Forwarding, part of one of Canada’s largest freight companies, is strengthening its links to Asian markets and Western Canada base by acquiring Canfleet Logistics of Vancouver, British Columbia, which offers ocean export and logistics services.

The largest U.S. freight broker, $12.8 billion C.H. Robinson Worldwide, is buying one of the largest Internet-based truck freight brokers, Freightquote.com. The $365 million cash deal will open new opportunities for C.H. Robinson in e-commerce and less-than-truckload markets.

Indian shippers, already hit hard by port congestion and ocean carrier surcharges, face steeper haulage charges to move their containerized goods via rail.

Pricing power and advances in technology are spurring innovation in LTL pricing, encouraging carriers to test out dimensional-weight pricing and other alternatives to class-based tariff rates as they seek more dynamic, flexible pricing models.

The Alabama State Port Authority has contracted with a construction firm to build the first phase of intermodal rail facility aimed at making the port of Mobile more attractive to shippers.

The launching of China-Europe rail services on the southern route via Kazakhstan has been hogging the headlines recently, but moves are underway to further develop the northern link through Russia.

A train pulling 82 wagons loaded with containers is somewhere between the Chinese manufacturing hub of Yiwu and the Spanish city of Madrid, 6,200 miles down the track.

A weekly index of intermodal spot pricing showed post-peak season weakness and was weighed down by rate erosion on freight moving out of Chicago, where intermodal prices have been consistently strong this year. However pricing support out of the West Coast pointed to the effects of congestion at the Los Angeles-Long Beach ports.

Spot market dry van truck rates in the U.S. rose in the week that ended Nov. 22 and are more than 9 percent higher than in the same week a year ago, DAT Solutions said.

U.S. shippers, especially retailers, are increasingly nervous and frustrated by supply chain delays and higher transport costs linked to West Coast port congestion, and worried about how that congestion will affect the movement of goods to inland distribution points.

BNSF Railway is no longer accepting empty containers headed to Seattle and Tacoma marine terminals at railyards in Chicago; St. Paul, Minnesota, Denver and Omaha.

U.S.-Mexico cross-border trucking and rail volume is poised to increase after Mexican factory export production in October hit a five-year high.

A combination of manufacturing migrating from China to its Southeast Asian neighbours and improving road infrastructure is set to grow cross-border trade, despite the import and export of containers taking up to three weeks in some countries.

The Port of Houston Authority has selected Lockwood, Andrews & Newnam Inc. to design the first phase of a new rail line to the port’s Bayport terminal.

The value of U.S. trade with Mexico and Canada increased by $7.8 billion in September, exceeding $100 billion for the seventh straight month as manufacturing activity and freight shipping in all three North American Free Trade Agreement partners expanded.

Shippers face another round of woes even after their stalled containers move from congested Los Angeles-Long Beach via intermodal rail to Chicago.

Trailer orders in the U.S. hit an all-time high in October, exceeding the earlier mark by nearly 9 percent, FTR Associates says.

U.S. shippers dependent on congested ports face a tough year ahead, FTR Associates says. But that doesn't mean 2015 will be easy — or cheap — for anyone shipping freight in the U.S.

West Coast port congestion keeps spot market truck prices on inland routes high, and shippers are rethinking supply chains as cost rise.

Recent case law involving the independent contractor model in trucking indicates that companies must cover all bases in order to convince the courts and government agencies that owner-operator drivers are not direct employees, a Southern California attorney told the Harbor Transportation Club this week.

A Teamsters-affiliated group in Southern California on Friday said it halted picketing that began this week at facilities operated byPacer ACartage, Harbor Rail Transport, LACA Express, QTS and WinWin Logistics.

It’s not just Brazilian ports that are struggling to meet demand. Brazilian road and rail projects are also suffering from severe delays caused by bureaucratic red-tape.

U.S. intermodal volume growth appears to be slowing, reflecting the winding down of the peak season and potential delays caused by U.S. West Coast port congestion.

A Teamsters union election for drivers at a FedEx Freight terminal in Richmond, Virginia, has been canceled, the third election withdrawal in three weeks.

The South Carolina Ports Authority’s inland port of Greer continues to exceed performance expectations with rail lifts at the facility up 1.5 times over plan, with 17,714 moves since July.

BNSF Railway plans to spend a record $6 billion on capital projects next year and will invest $500 million more this year than it originally planned, it said today.

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey approved $2.42 million to continue a four-year-old program to help port truckers replace older, higher-polluting vehicles with newer, cleaner burning ones.

The Port of Long Beach today will be the focus of attention by a Teamsters-affiliated group that is attempting to organize drayage drivers in Southern California.

Shippers who came to the National Industrial Transportation League’s annual conference in Florida hoping to hear U.S. freight rates would moderate after rising significantly in 2014 are heading home disappointed.

Collaboration, cooked with perspiration and flavored by imagination with a dash of desperation, is the main course being served at the National Industrial Transportation League’s annual conference and TransComp Exhibition in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.