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As contract freight volumes begin to rise year over year, more pressure will come to bear on contract truckload rates, DAT’s Chris Caplice told the JOC Inland Distribution Webcast.

JOC’s Intermodal Savings Index fell on the spot market and rose on the contract market in the third quarter, a trend that is likely to persist through the end of 2020.

Small package optimization and analytics firm ShipMatrix is launching a third-party, non-asset package management service to tap US Postal Service capacity for e-commerce shippers.

The number of new operating authorities issued to US trucking companies is surging alongside imports, but that doesn’t necessarily mean truckload capacity is increasing.

An ‘insatiable demand’ for truck capacity and a US loan are helping LTL operator YRC Worldwide expand capacity and intermodal services in the Central-South.

Rebid freight now or wait for what may be a calmer first quarter? That’s the question US truck shippers face, Echo Global Logistics chairman and CEO Doug Waggoner says.

Capacity remains king in the US truckload market, as larger carriers face challenges hiring company drivers and owner-operators seek independent opportunities.

US shippers are opening contract talks early, extending existing agreements, and seeking short-term contracts to hedge against expected 2021 rate increases.

More large goods are being sold online and delivered by LTL carriers such as Southeastern Freight Lines, as retailers seek multiple capacity options to reach consumers

Union Pacific Railroad says service is now fluid on its intermodal network after the “bumpiness” experienced over the summer; intermodal marketing companies, however, dispute that.

Freight brokerage software provider Parade has set up direct integration with two companies that focus on digitally enabling small carriers, which gives brokers using Parade access to that capacity.

Union Pacific Railroad will raise the surcharge on small shippers to $1,000 on excess contract cargo beginning Oct. 25, a signal that rail-owned containers remain in short supply on the West Coast.

Limited air cargo capacity and high ocean load factors are keeping demand elevated on the overland rail network between China and Europe.

Margin transparency is taking root among early-stage freight brokers, with cross-border 3PL Forager saying Wednesday it will provide clear pricing and service fees on any quote provided on its platform.

The rail agreement between Canadian Pacific and Maersk follows the mid-September announcement that the two companies will build and operate a transload and distribution facility at CP’s existing terminal in Vancouver.

J.B. Hunt said intermodal results were worse than anticipated because of major network congestion in rail terminals and shippers sitting on containers, which may not ease until 2021.

Two recent studies show how cheaper rail prices are helping drive port routing changes, and a new JOC analysis of data from the Intermodal Association of North America reveals how significant the shift has been in just five years.

Agricultural shippers in North Dakota will have a new service to the ports of Seattle and Tacoma to export products overseas, which the state’s governor calls a game-changer.

Long-haul trucking faces fiercer competition for truck drivers in the future and a shrinking pool of qualified driver candidates, ATA’s chief economist told the 2020 Transplace Shipper Symposium.

The long run-up in spot market truckload rates and truck freight demand may be reaching its peak, but don’t expect a quick descent, speakers at the Transplace Shipper Symposium said Wednesday.

An analysis of shipper transaction data shows a marked slowing of spot market rate hikes in September after a turbulent summer, perhaps pumping the brakes on the rise of contract rates

This year’s peak season promises to be tumultuous, but 2021 could be just as difficult for shippers as 2020.

Shippers are modifying their approach to truckload contracting, using more short-term “mini-bids” than ever before and turning to technology to improve a process that often breaks down when market prices swing quickly.

As capacity tightens at the US-Mexico border, truckload carrier CFI is building a series of consolidation centers to expand its efforts to capture Mexico-bound less-than-truckload freight and provide shippers with more capacity.

Logistics executives do not expect spot truckload rates to soar much higher, but they do not think they will drop either, forcing shippers to collaborate more.

The purchase of Value Logistics gives Forward a bigger intermodal presence in the South-Central distribution hub as freight volumes of all types rise, said CEO Tom Schmitt.

DCLI is ending contracts with NVOCCs because it believes truckers are better partners in the merchant haulage business, but other chassis providers will not follow suit and plan to keep conducting business with everyone.

The freight broker Transfix is providing small carriers with free standalone operational technology to align their capacity availability with needs from the company’s shipper customers.

A substantial increase in heavy truck orders in September begs the question: Who will drive those trucks? Trucking employment is improving, but still down 4.7 percent year over year.

Giving better volume forecasts to container lines and collaborating with truckload carriers can help shippers when capacity gets tight, but it’s higher rates that lock in the slot space on a vessel or guarantees a trailer load gets picked up when needed.

A private equity group has plunged $500 million into Uber Freight, signaling that longer-term investors believe the business model of digital freight matching will gain traction in the years ahead.

The new rate differential tracked by DAT chief scientist Chris Caplice is rising at a faster pace, a sign that shippers will see a greater increase in truckload contract rates.

Shippers moving to mini-bids as truck capacity tightens need more detailed and near-real-time data to match freight lanes and tractor-trailers.

TRAC chassis are in short supply in Columbus, Ohio, because the equipment provider said repairs were necessary on chassis returned from the cooperative pool that was disbanded last month.

Rising local trucking employment in the US and higher pricing highlights a shifting balance in transportation networks accelerated by double-digit growth in e-commerce sales.

Criticism of the truckload broker Convoy for using venture capital to expand its market share reached a fever pitch this week based on a new offering that helps shippers sidestep the annual bid process, a product incumbent brokers claim is not as innovative as Convoy suggests.

US shippers are returning to the ‘shipper of choice’ model as a peak season unlike any other looms ahead, trucking executives told the virtual CSCMP 2020 Edge conference this week.

Speaking at the virtual 2020 CSCMP Edge conference, Target’s Arthur L Valdez, Jr., forecasts a reinvention of retailing based on logistics and increasingly precise and rapid transportation.

Domestic intermodal volumes already elevated compared with a year ago and there are signs that international intermodal is on the upswing too.

To mitigate sudden increases in demand for last-mile capacity and high peak season parcel surcharges, US retailers are extending sales promotions through the holiday season.