Surface

A new service from C.H. Robinson could replace the annual truckload bidding process with a more dynamic approach to procuring trucks and increasing savings across networks of freight lanes.

Global 3PL ACI Worldwide and ground transportation provider Forward Air have expanded their last-mile capabilities for large and bulky freight to compete with the growing FedEx Freight Direct service.

As container volume has picked up, trucking and logistics executives say that CSX’s domestic intermodal service has become unreliable in two key southeast US rail ramps.

Large truckload carriers made their deepest capacity cuts in a decade in the second quarter, the JOC Truckload Capacity Index shows; they’re not likely to restore capacity quickly.

Shippers using third-party vendors to help them manage auditing and paying their freight bills see a sizable advantage in process costs versus those that manage the function in-house, new research has found.

A new integrated distribution center just outside Hagerstown, Maryland, will position regional LTL carrier A. Duie Pyle for greater growth in Virginia and along the I-70 and I-81 corridors as freight demand approaches 2019 levels.

Convoy is providing shippers an avenue to avoid what it considers unnecessary procurement costs associated with negotiating annual truckload bids that aren’t generally honored by either the shipper or carrier.

The acquisition of CLW Delivery gives expedited trucking operator Forward Air custom final-mile delivery services and new territory, as its LTL and final-mile businesses converge.

German digital broker Sennder has scooped up Uber Freight’s European operations for an undisclosed amount, consolidating its position in a market defined by small carriers with employee drivers, not independent owner-operators.

By acquiring a Chicago-based logistics provider and freight broker from R.R. Donnelley, Canada’s TFI plans to better integrate and scale US operations in freight and e-commerce.

US producer price indexes for August showed a marked jump in local trucking costs, likely due to increased demand for service between ports, warehouses, and distribution and fulfillment centers as e-commerce demand spurred imports.

BNSF has named Kathryn Farmer, who has been with the western railroad for 28 years, as its new CEO effective Jan. 1, 2021. She will become the first female CEO of a North American Class I railroad.

The surge in domestic intermodal has spread from Los Angeles to Oakland-Lathrop and Union Pacific will raise surcharges on shippers to ensure equipment is available for core customers.

Contract truck rates are rising because shippers are struggling to find available capacity and asking carriers what it will take to get their freight moving.

US for-hire trucking companies are rehiring truck drivers at a rate slower than the acceleration of freight demand, contributing to rising pressure on truck rates and US shippers.

Demand for rail services between China and Europe has risen sharply since COVID-19 slashed air and ocean capacity, with bottlenecks developing at key border crossings.

When it comes to the Inland Point Intermodal market, it’s a 40-foot world; thus far in 2020, 40-foot containers comprise just over three out of every four IPI revenue moves.

Uber Freight on Tuesday said it is providing large shippers with tools meant to complement their existing transportation management systems (TMSs), products that might signal an evolution from broker to software provider.

Walmart’s more stringent delivery requirements for suppliers comes ahead of the upcoming holiday season and coincides with the launch of WalMart Plus, its new competitor to Amazon Prime.

For-hire trucking companies have added 52,200 jobs since the trucking market collapsed in April, but are still 36,600 jobs short of this year’s high point, adding to capacity problems.

The flood of imports to Los Angeles and Long Beach this summer is squeezing truckload and LTL capacity on inland truck routes, more than doubling spot rates to Chicago, as intermodal capacity and e-commerce deadlines remain tight.

Less-than-truckload shipments and tonnage at Saia in August were about where they were a year ago, when the carrier already was growing faster than its LTL competitors. That underscores broader LTL growth.

A proposed Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration pilot project would let truck drivers stop the hours of service clock for up to three hours and then resume driving, giving them more control over their schedules, but a longer day.

UP will raise surcharges again out of Los Angeles on all shippers, as previous rate increases have been ineffective in slowing volumes that threaten to overwhelm the railroad’s network.

More US small parcel carriers are implementing peak season surcharges as retailers prepare for an atypical holiday season.

Shippers need quicker access to carrier, rate information as lanes, customers, and pricing shift under COVID-19, C.H. Robinson says.

Shippers will have to plan their supply chains more carefully in Denver and Chicago because Union Pacific Railroad will no longer accept containers more than two days before their scheduled departure due to an onslaught of intermodal volume.

Truckload freight volumes are still increasing overall, but not at the frenetic pace of July, supply chain visibility provider FourKites says. That's a sign supply chains are "rebalancing," though spot pricing remains elevated.

After selling its last remaining non-LTL subsidiaries, Roadrunner Transportation plans to shorten transit times on more lanes, improve service, and win over LTL shippers and drivers.

Union Pacific Railroad will institute a $500 surcharge on excess cargo for all shippers in Seattle to divert as many assets to Los Angeles as possible amid record-breaking cargo spikes in Southern California.

For the third time this month, Union Pacific has increased spot rates and its peak season surcharge in Los Angeles, raising prices on small shippers to record levels and likely pushing excess cargo back to trucking.

With record parcel volumes expected to continue into the holiday peak season, carriers are implementing surcharges to manage demand while shippers struggle to secure capacity and mitigate costs.

Freight forwarders in the US Midwest and Eastern Canada fear the rail problems plaguing Vancouver could quickly result in excessive delays in delivering containers to the eastern half of the continent.

Seeing the long-term decline in carload volumes tied to North American industrial activity, CN is trying to tie itself closer to supply chains feeding the retail and service industries.

A federal regulatory change will safely expedite the training process and address the pressing national need for more chassis mechanics, according to the Intermodal Association of North America.

US brewer Anheuser-Busch is upgrading its clean-truck fleet, but the shipper’s 2025 sustainability goals will require collaboration across the supply chain.

NFI intermodal and its truck brokerage businesses will expand following logistics unit purchases from CAI International.

The largest US and Canadian truckload and LTL carriers have grown substantially over the last decade, despite short-term economic woes, according to data from SJ Consulting Group.

With a new integrated distribution center in Massachusetts and another under construction in Pennsylvania, northeastern regional LTL carrier A. Duie Pyle is resuming expansion plans interrupted by COVID-19.

The new $1,500 rate hike by UP is on top of a $500 increase announced earlier this month on California lanes, effectively raising intermodal spot rates above trucking pricing.