Surface

A dearth of consolidation means there are still plenty of visibility vendors for shippers to choose from, but it also means the market as a whole is on somewhat unsteady ground.

Brokers would have to make transaction records, including shipper rates, available to trucking companies electronically and the requirements could supersede non-disclosure agreements, according to a proposed rule from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.

GenLogs, founded by an ex-counterterrorism expert, is offering shippers and brokers a way to track lost trailers and trucks as cargo theft booms in the US.

The company has the largest ground transportation fleet in Asia, with more than 86,000 trucks and 100,000 first- and last-mile delivery vehicles.

Sean Duffy is the incoming administration’s pick for transportation secretary, with much of his prior legislative focus on issues related to trucking.

The new charges apply to both spot market business originating in Southern California and to contractual agreements when weekly limits are surpassed by shippers using rail-owned containers.

Shippers, brokers and trucking executives at a Traffic Club of Chicago forum all said the long freight downturn isn’t finished — but are hopeful it’s nearing an end.

While intermodal providers increased pricing in Southern California, truckload carriers also raised rates as demand grew with surging port volumes, negating any modal shifts based on budgetary concerns, the latest Journal of Commerce Intermodal Savings Index showed.

The company sees its new Broker Access product as another channel for brokers to find capacity outside of contracts with truckload carriers and posting spot freight on a load board.

The deal for privately-owned IMC Logistics gives NVO Kuehne+Nagel a significant advantage in selling door-to-door products to cargo owners.

Customers of automated freight procurement tool Keelvar will get access to more than $1 trillion in truckload pricing data as part of a new arrangement with DAT Freight & Analytics.

After two years of shipping pricing power, analysts expect spot and contract truckload rates to rise over the course of next year, with the biggest hikes coming in the second half.

A second intermodal option is coming for shippers moving cargo between Mexico and the Southeast US beginning in December.

The Journal of Commerce Truckload Capacity Index indicates large US carriers pulled back on capacity cuts in the third quarter and are planning for expansion and higher rates.

Despite multiple highly disruptive exterior events, from hurricanes to labor strikes, there has not been an intermodal service meltdown in North America, writes Larry Gross.

Cross-border supply chains need to become more integrated and efficient to increase capacity on both sides of a constricted border, logistics executives say.

As US trade with Mexico grows, railroads see a chance to challenge the dominance of the Mexican trucking industry — if the railroads’ intermodal partners can lock in new business and deliver reliable service.

Shippers once saw small variances on freight bills as a nuisance too insignificant to dispute, but technology is enabling more efficient scrutiny across transportation modes.

Those companies are combining to get the terminals, talent and technology they need to compete as larger carriers increasingly seek business in their markets.

The gains suggest Hub benefited from an aggressive pricing posture in bids that went live earlier this year, reversing some of its market share loss in 2023 by offering attractive rates to shippers.

Less-than-truckload volumes may be down as much as 15% from 2021, but carriers are pushing for rate hikes in single-digit percentages as they plan expansion.

The completion of initial clearance improvements allows CSX to operate double-stack rail service on a temporary route from Baltimore along its network in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York and into the Midwest.

A stronger manufacturing recovery is needed to increase demand in both the truckload and LTL sectors, speakers said during a Journal of Commerce webcast.

Some freight brokers are increasing the number of loads they can book per day with software that automates repetitive components of the booking process.

Shippers and forwarders are reporting slowdowns at several inland gateways that are linked to seasonality, equipment placement, labor disruption and carrier behavior.

UP’s CEO Jim Vena, during the railroad’s Q3 earnings call, appeared to take a shot at ocean carriers for not informing landside stakeholders sooner about the heavy volumes that landed along the West Coast in recent months.

Trucking companies large and small are considering adding more LTL providers to their portfolios, but finding the right acquisition targets is a challenge.

Freight marketplaces report a new storm-related surge in spot volume, lifting transactional pricing as trucking heads toward its peak holiday season.

The truckload spot market is cooling after a surge in rates and volume, but seasonality is expected to give it another boost as year-end holidays approach.

Frontloading of peak season cargo might have been a factor in why domestic intermodal volumes were higher than expected in the third quarter.

The Class I railroads are acquiring separate sections of a rail line in Alabama and Mississippi, allowing them to launch a new joint intermodal service between Mexico and the Southeast US.

A source with knowledge of Friday’s incident said the UP train was being interchanged to Norfolk Southern Railway, although it’s unclear why the train was stationary in a residential area.

As damage from Helene and Milton is being tallied, logistics experts say the storms won’t do much to accelerate spot and contract truckload pricing in the long term.

The second-largest US intermodal provider believes a partnership with a large Mexican carrier will present an attractive option for cross-border shippers.

Following Hurricane Helene by less than two weeks, Milton will draw more truck capacity to the Southeast, upsetting market balance and pushing spot prices higher.

Figuring out why growth in intermodal volumes between Mexico and the US is significantly lagging that of trucking demand will be crucial to unlocking one of intermodal’s biggest growth opportunities, writes Journal of Commerce analyst Larry Gross.

While shippers and intermodal providers agree that rail cargo theft is a problem, there is no consensus about the right solution.

Intermodal providers believe shippers of time-sensitive cargo can rely on rail, but some potential customers need to see more evidence of consistent service, executives told the Journal of Commerce Inland Distribution Conference 2024 (Inland24).

Although ongoing softness in the US freight economy is tempering forecasts for higher truck pricing, both truckload and less-than-truckload carriers expect pricing gains next year.

Shipping executives say domestic intermodal rates are set for a rise as trucking pricing expands, but they’re not expecting significant increases.