Surface

Vendorflow, a new platform to harmonize communications between logistics providers and the carriers they use, has secured funding from a range of venture capital investors with previous logistics expertise.

A reallocation of assets and workers across the transportation landscape, combined with inventory rebuilding, complicates the outlook for US shippers in 2022, speakers told the JOC Inland Distribution webcast.

The third-party logistics market is being reshaped in a crucible of ongoing supply chain disruption and technology, Transplace CEO Frank McGuigan told the JOC Inland Distribution webcast.

Union Pacific Railroad will test semi-automated cranes at its Global IV terminal in Chicago next year, hoping the new equipment will improve fluidity through there.

Tiger Cool Express is pursuing the purchase of a shuttered Union Pacific refrigerated warehouse to help develop a new cold chain intermodal hub in the Pacific Northwest.

BNSF Railway said it has moved all ocean containers in Logistics Park Chicago to truck-accessible locations, but truck drivers say that has not solved all the problems they’ve been dealing with since the summer.

The for-hire trucking industry lost 1,600 jobs last month, but the Labor Department expected a bigger drop, as transit, warehousing and courier employment surged.

LTL carriers including Old Dominion Freight Line are turning to surcharges to keep over-sized, unwieldy shipments from clogging their networks, taking a page from parcel carriers.

Norfolk Southern Railway is experimenting with less-than-carload service to take loads traditionally moved on LTL trucks on boxcars attached to intermodal trains, which has received praise from a top federal official.

The backlog of freight in Southern California is forcing more shippers to the truckload spot market as they search for any available capacity to speed goods inland.

Recent merger and acquisition activity, such as the ArcBest-Molo deal, proves many investors believe opportunity lies in third-party logistics providers.

A Chicago-based trucking platform focused on cross-border freight has launched a contract board for small carriers to find repetitive, complementary loads from large shippers.

Congestion in Vancouver has caused demand for Canadian Pacific’s 53-foot containers to skyrocket and the available supply to become extremely thin.

Norfolk Southern will reopen a closed intermodal terminal in Kentucky in order to handle high volumes of ocean containers coming into the Port of Virginia.

Digital brokerage Loadsmart and Home Depot are launching an automated, supply-led flatbed booking platform that will help the retailer “share” its dedicated truck capacity with other shippers.

US importers are taking bolder action to guarantee capacity in ways that would have been unimaginable in years past, from chartering ships, embracing transloading, and paying more to secure contracted ocean capacity

The $235 million acquisition of MoLo Solutions will double ArcBest’s available capacity and reflects an industrywide drive to access capacity across modes and networks.

Speakers at the Coyote Logistics Digital Summit said some truckload capacity is creeping back into a very tight market, but not to expect major changes in rates, especially for shippers on the “import side.”

Although national spot rate averages are flat, significant increases in dry-van truckload volumes from US ports are tightening pricing pressure in long-haul lanes as importers rush goods further inland.

Union Pacific Railroad is limiting how many domestic containers it will take out of Chicago, Kansas City, and Memphis to the West Coast to address terminal congestion in its intermodal network.

Trucking equipment manufacturers are raking in new orders for trailers and tractors, but it may be well into 2022 before they roll off production lines ready to move freight.

Jam-packed West Coast warehouses are pushing more freight inland earlier, raising spot prices and expedited trucking costs in lanes out of the Los Angeles region faster than expected.

India’s latest regulatory action puts the spotlight on greater transparency into logistics costs, the subject of protracted and acrimonious debate between transport service providers and cargo interests.

A rapid evolution in how US shippers contract with truckload carriers is driving growth at Emerge and drawing $130 million in fresh private equity funding to its digital procurement platform.

Transfix’s announcement that it is going public will serve as a comparison against incumbent brokers and a reference point for other digital brokers and technology providers with public aspirations.

The largest US trucking company, FedEx Freight, is improving profits while handling more cargo, as sister division FedEx Ground deals with congestion blamed partly on labor shortages.

Demand fueled tonnage growth at for-hire contract carriers in August, according to the American Trucking Associations, but supply chain disruption and shortages still constrain overall capacity.

As shippers increasingly turn to – or are forced to – the spot market for truck capacity, automation will identify opportunities to lower costs, according to C.H. Robinson Worldwide.

Importers’ failure to return chassis equipment in a timely manner is tying up equipment, causing disruption that has spurred the top US rail regulator to ask whether the railroads have gone too far in paring intermodal networks to please investors.

Norfolk Southern Railway, which expects all chassis subject to a June safety recall to be repaired by next month, will buy more chassis in 2022 to address supply chain congestion.

Canadian National has bowed out of its pursuit of Kansas City Southern, two weeks after US regulators threw up a major roadblock to a proposed deal, clearing the way for Canadian Pacific to apply for regulatory approval for its deal with the US-Mexico railroad.

With shippers facing crippling congestion in Southern California, the Port of New York and New Jersey is seeing more volume and the demand has spilled over to long-haul trucking.

Iowa-based CRST is installing a telematics-based fleet management system the truckload carrier claims will benefit both drivers and shippers seeking supply chain intelligence.

The $1.3 billion acquisition of Echo Global Logistics by a private equity company will fuel an automation drive at the third-party logistics provider as shippers dealing with disruption demand more sophisticated technology.

Chemicals transportation and logistics specialist A&R Logistics is rebranding and reorganizing as Quantix, adding trucking assets to meet growing demand from shippers.

While container dwell may be up, intermodal volume on the UP network — domestic and international combined — is down 4.6 percent since July 1 from a year ago, according to the Association of American Railroads.

The chairman of the US Surface Transportation Board urged railroads to focus less on serving Wall Street investors and more on serving shippers, employees, and the public interest — or else the agency may have to intervene.

Less-than-truckload carrier Old Dominion Freight Line hopes to counter the threat of COVID-19 to its own employees and its customers with a financial vaccination incentive.

The impact of Hurricane Ida pushed already high truckload spot prices even higher this week, digital brokers say, as capacity becomes more dislocated at the start of trucking’s peak season.

A stronger than expected round of hiring in August brought transportation and warehousing payrolls back to pre-pandemic levels, but new employees aren’t distributed evenly.