<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">President Obama is putting the trucking industry on the road to greater fuel efficiency with an order for mileage standards for heavy-duty trucks. 
 
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President Obama is putting the trucking industry on the road to greater fuel efficiency with an order for mileage standards for heavy-duty trucks.

<div>President Obama is putting the trucking industry on the road to greater fuel efficiency with an order for mileage standards for heavy-duty trucks. &amp;ldquo;We can increase fuel economy by as much as 25 percent in tractor-trailers using technologies that already exist today,&amp;rdquo; the president said in a May 21 White House ceremony. Independent reports back him up and make clear that raising the mileage standards will reduce fuel use and save barrels of money. What&amp;rsquo;s not clear is how much it will cost truckers and shippers to get that greater fuel efficiency. <div><table><colgroup><col><col><col></colgroup><tbody><tr><td></td><td></td><td>The president&amp;rsquo;s order advances goals set by the...

President Obama is putting the trucking industry on the road to greater fuel efficiency with an order for mileage standards for heavy-duty trucks. &ldquo;We can increase fuel economy by as much as 25 percent in tractor-trailers using technologies that already exist today,&rdquo; the president said in a May 21 White House ceremony. Independent reports back him up and make clear that raising the mileage standards will reduce fuel use and save barrels of money. What&rsquo;s not clear is how much it will cost truckers and shippers to get that greater fuel efficiency. The president&rsquo;s order advances goals set by the 2007 Energy Independence and Security Act, which required the Department of Transportation to research truck fuel economy standards. The order also aligned environmentalists and industry officials, from the Sierra Club to the American Trucking Associations, who don&rsquo;t always see eye-to-eye. They may not agree on climate change legislation, but even those who have criticized this administration’s transportation policies praised the presidential memorandum tasking the DOT and the Environmental Protection Agency with developing truck fuel economy and greenhouse gas emissions standards. &ldquo;President Obama told us this morning this could be a model of industry and government cooperation in developing beneficial regulations,&rdquo; said Tommy Hodges, chairman of the ATA and of truckload carrier Titan Transfer in Shelbyville, Tenn., who attended the ceremony. The ATA has supported national truck fuel economy standards since 2007, along with limiting truck speeds and other steps to conserve fuel, Hodges said. But comments from other supporters suggest why the ATA and other highway user groups have been wary of the administration&rsquo;s attention to environmentalism and transportation. &ldquo;For heavy-duty trucks, these standards are a great start, but it is important to begin moving more freight by rail,&rdquo; Sierra Club Chairman Carl Pope said. &ldquo;This will yield the greatest savings in both oil and global warming pollution.&rdquo; In some ways, the drive toward better truck mileage is a new turn for an industry and government that for years focused on reducing nitrogen oxide and particulates emissions, often at the expense of fuel economy. Now that the EPA&rsquo;s 2010 emissions rules are in place, the pendulum is swinging toward carbon dioxide and fuel mileage. Heavy-duty trucks consume the equivalent of more than 2 million barrels of oil a day and average 6.1 miles per gallon, according to the White House. They also produce about 20 percent of the greenhouse gases emitted by transportation sources. The president didn&rsquo;t set mileage or carbon emissions targets for big trucks, leaving the DOT and EPA to work out what&rsquo;s feasible and how best to get there. The initial mileage and carbon standards will cover trucks built from 2014 through 2018. Those requirements are sure to set in motion far-reaching changes in truck technology and design, from the tires up to aerodynamic fixtures on the roof of the tractor. That&rsquo;s likely to increase the average cost of a tractor by an unknown amount, although fuel savings are expected to cancel out some higher equipment costs &mdash; especially if diesel costs rise to the levels seen in 2008 or higher. But even advocates of higher fuel mileage standards &mdash; the Union of Concerned Scientists, for example &mdash; admit they could add tens of thousands of dollars to the cost of a Class 8 tractor that already runs higher than $100,000 per unit. A report issued last month by the National Research Council found hybridization, advanced diesel engines and aerodynamics were the &ldquo;major enabling technologies&rdquo; needed to improve heavy-duty truck fuel economy. &ldquo;Essentially, all Class 8 vehicles will continue with diesel engines as the prime mover,&rdquo; the report said, although &ldquo;stop-and-go&rdquo; urban fleets may deploy more hybrid medium-duty trucks. The report also cited the need for improved tractor-trailer aerodynamics, greater use of low rolling resistance tires and advanced transmissions, among other innovations. Using a combination of technology and better driver and management training, fleets could halve tractor-trailer fuel consumption by 2015, the NRC said. Any concern that new mileage and emissions standards would ratchet up equipment costs was subdued on May 21, at least at the White House. Instead, the spotlight was on potential savings of $120,000 per tractor over eight years for fleet operators and $80,000 over 15 years for owner-operators, based on an average $3.50 per gallon diesel price. Most carriers trade out tractors well before eight years, however, which means first-time equipment buyers could be saddled with higher costs without the savings. &ldquo;Truck owners often insist on very quick payback periods for new technologies, with many fleets looking for a payback in the neighborhood of two years,&rdquo; the Union of Concerned Scientists and CALSTART said in a report released this month. &ldquo;Though almost all of the advanced technology investments we examined resulted in life-cycle savings for fleet owners, very few could meet the two-year simple payback requirement.&rdquo; Contact William B. Cassidy at wcassidy@joc.com .

Trucking News

No Mileage Gain Without Pain

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">Excess capacity and lower rates are drawing some LTL freight into the truckload sector, helping to depress overall LTL volumes, FedEx quarterly results indicate.</div>

Excess capacity and lower rates are drawing some LTL freight into the truckload sector, helping to depress overall LTL volumes, FedEx quarterly results indicate.

Feature image

<div class="phx-topic">The pressure of a three-year freight downturn is pushing more less-than-truckload (LTL) freight to the lower-priced truckload market, squeezing revenue and profits at FedEx Freight, the largest US LTL provider. FedEx Freight’s daily LTL shipment count declined 2.2% to 90,012 shipments in the fiscal quarter that ended Aug. 31, with revenue per shipment falling 0.9% year over year and revenue per hundredweight — a measure of profitability — dropping 0.6%. “Weakness in the industrial economy and excess capacity in the truckload market continue to pressure our results,” said Brie Carere, executive vice president and chief customer officer for FedEx, said during an earnings call with Wall Street analysts on Thursday. “You’ve all tracked the pressures on the industrial economy,” Carere said. “Of course, we are feeling that pressure.” Still, the company expects the pressure to ease somewhat heading into 2026. “We do anticipate that yields will increase in the back half, but we remain very disciplined and very focused,” Carere said, adding the company’s number one priority is “revenue quality.” <div class="wrapper-narrow"><dynamic-object type="jocchartid" resource-id="b8bff0bb-e602-4052-88a8-7955d25f97d2"></dynamic-object></div>During the last quarter, FedEx Freight’s revenue dropped 3.1% from a year ago to $2.3 billion. The company’s operating profit margin narrowed to 16% from 18.8% a year ago and 20.8% in the previous quarter. That gives FedEx Freight an operating ratio of 86%. Carere hit on two factors many analysts and executives say are inhibiting LTL growth — <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/manufacturing-malaise-clouds-outlook-for-us-industrial-freight-6001813">softness in US manufacturing</a> and a glut of cheap truckload capacity. Excess capacity has become the norm in the truckload sector, according to FTR Transport Intelligence. At its 2025 FTR Transport conference last week, the research firm said it expects a capacity “overhang” to persist throughout 2026 <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/excess-truck-capacity-to-linger-through-2027-ftr-6077828">and into 2027</a>. That excess capacity puts a cap on truckload rate increases and siphons freight away from higher-priced LTL networks and into lower-cost truckload trailers. <h3>A slow leak in volume </h3>Other LTL carriers have noted the shift, too. “We’ve seen some market share shift, I think, from LTL to truckload through this cycle,” Adam Satterfield, CFO of Old Dominion Freight Line (ODFL), the second-largest US LTL provider, said during an earnings call in July. The shipments component of the Cass Freight Index fell 9.3% from a year earlier in August, and Cass pointed out that truckload volumes rose while LTL shipments dropped. “When you look at some of the statistics in the truckload industry in terms of what they’re charging ... they’re willing to operate at break-even or worse,” ODFL’s Satterfield said. That’s something ODFL, FedEx and other LTL providers haven't been willing to do, so they’ve lost some freight. Several carriers reported a year-over-year <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/falling-us-ltl-volumes-putting-pressure-on-margins-rates-6077715">decline in volume</a> in August, with daily shipments falling 8.2% at ODFL, 3.4% at XPO and 2.2% at Saia. The growing gap between <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/ltl-truckload-pricing-rising-despite-soft-demand-6079263">truckload and LTL pricing</a> is evident in the US producer price index (PPI) for each sector. Those PPIs both increased in August, but the long-distance LTL PPI was up 10.5% year over year, while the truckload PPI was down 0.5% from a year earlier. <h3>Building inventories </h3>Lower LTL volumes are not just about modal shift, however. Weakness in US manufacturing is pulling down shipment counts as well. The S&amp;P Global US Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index™, a measure of manufacturing health, returned to expansion in August, rising to 53 from 49.8 in July. But that increase was linked to volatility surrounding higher US tariffs. Manufacturing firms are building inventories to hedge against price increases expected in coming months for inputs attributed to higher tariffs, S&amp;P Global, parent company of the Journal of Commerce, said Sept. 2. As such, that production hasn’t translated into higher linehaul volumes for LTL carriers. FedEx Freight still has a commanding volume lead over its largest competitors. ODFL reported 44,907 shipments a day in the second quarter. And FedEx Freight plans to double the size of its dedicated sales force by its spinoff deadline of June 2026. The carrier has about 200 frontline LTL sales personnel and is “well on its way” toward its goal of hiring 400 sales specialists prior to the spinoff, said CFO John Dietrich. That signals determination to expand a market share that already approaches 15% by shipment volume, according to SJ Consulting Group data. By revenue, FedEx Freight’s market share totals 17.2%, the transportation research firm’s data shows. Contact William B. Cassidy at <a href="mailto://bill.cassidy@spglobal.com">bill.cassidy@spglobal.com</a>.</div>

The pressure of a three-year freight downturn is pushing more less-than-truckload (LTL) freight to the lower-priced truckload market, squeezing revenue and profits at FedEx Freight, the largest US LTL provider. FedEx Freight’s daily LTL shipment count declined 2.2% to 90,012 shipments in the fiscal quarter that ended Aug. 31, with revenue per shipment falling 0.9% year over year and revenue per hundredweight — a measure of profitability — dropping 0.6%. “Weakness in the industrial economy and excess capacity in the truckload market continue to pressure our results,” said Brie Carere, executive vice president and chief customer officer for FedEx, said during an earnings call with Wall Street analysts on Thursday. “You’ve all tracked the pressures on the industrial economy,” Carere said. “Of course, we are feeling that pressure.” Still, the company expects the pressure to ease somewhat heading into 2026. “We do anticipate that yields will increase in the back half, but we remain very disciplined and very focused,” Carere said, adding the company’s number one priority is “revenue quality.” During the last quarter, FedEx Freight’s revenue dropped 3.1% from a year ago to $2.3 billion. The company’s operating profit margin narrowed to 16% from 18.8% a year ago and 20.8% in the previous quarter. That gives FedEx Freight an operating ratio of 86%. Carere hit on two factors many analysts and executives say are inhibiting LTL growth — softness in US manufacturing and a glut of cheap truckload capacity. Excess capacity has become the norm in the truckload sector, according to FTR Transport Intelligence. At its 2025 FTR Transport conference last week, the research firm said it expects a capacity “overhang” to persist throughout 2026 and into 2027 . That excess capacity puts a cap on truckload rate increases and siphons freight away from higher-priced LTL networks and into lower-cost truckload trailers. A slow leak in volume Other LTL carriers have noted the shift, too. “We’ve seen some market share shift, I think, from LTL to truckload through this cycle,” Adam Satterfield, CFO of Old Dominion Freight Line (ODFL), the second-largest US LTL provider, said during an earnings call in July. The shipments component of the Cass Freight Index fell 9.3% from a year earlier in August, and Cass pointed out that truckload volumes rose while LTL shipments dropped. “When you look at some of the statistics in the truckload industry in terms of what they’re charging ... they’re willing to operate at break-even or worse,” ODFL’s Satterfield said. That’s something ODFL, FedEx and other LTL providers haven't been willing to do, so they’ve lost some freight. Several carriers reported a year-over-year decline in volume in August, with daily shipments falling 8.2% at ODFL, 3.4% at XPO and 2.2% at Saia. The growing gap between truckload and LTL pricing is evident in the US producer price index (PPI) for each sector. Those PPIs both increased in August, but the long-distance LTL PPI was up 10.5% year over year, while the truckload PPI was down 0.5% from a year earlier. Building inventories Lower LTL volumes are not just about modal shift, however. Weakness in US manufacturing is pulling down shipment counts as well. The S&P Global US Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index™, a measure of manufacturing health, returned to expansion in August, rising to 53 from 49.8 in July. But that increase was linked to volatility surrounding higher US tariffs. Manufacturing firms are building inventories to hedge against price increases expected in coming months for inputs attributed to higher tariffs, S&P Global, parent company of the Journal of Commerce, said Sept. 2. As such, that production hasn’t translated into higher linehaul volumes for LTL carriers. FedEx Freight still has a commanding volume lead over its largest competitors. ODFL reported 44,907 shipments a day in the second quarter. And FedEx Freight plans to double the size of its dedicated sales force by its spinoff deadline of June 2026. The carrier has about 200 frontline LTL sales personnel and is “well on its way” toward its goal of hiring 400 sales specialists prior to the spinoff, said CFO John Dietrich. That signals determination to expand a market share that already approaches 15% by shipment volume, according to SJ Consulting Group data. By revenue, FedEx Freight’s market share totals 17.2%, the transportation research firm’s data shows. Contact William B. Cassidy at bill.cassidy@spglobal.com .

Surface

Truckload carriers capturing more LTL shipments: FedEx Freight

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">A frenzy of acquisition activity in the truckload market continued this week, with software provider Highway buying Newtrul, a marketplace founded to compete with DAT and Truckstop.com. </div>

A frenzy of acquisition activity in the truckload market continued this week, with software provider Highway buying Newtrul, a marketplace founded to compete with DAT and Truckstop.com.

<div class="phx-topic">Carrier identity software provider Highway has continued its drive to enable truckload transactions through the acquisition of Newtrul, a freight marketplace launched to compete with existing load boards such as DAT Freight &amp; Analytics and Truckstop.com. The deal, announced Thursday, will help Highway accelerate adoption of its <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/highway-latest-entry-in-load-board-sector-amid-cargo-crime-rise-6069143">Trusted Freight Exchange</a> (TFX) that was launched in August with partner Triumph, Highway’s Chief Commercial Officer Michael Caney told the Journal of Commerce. Terms were not disclosed. The acquisition of Newtrul further places Highway in the heart of a battle between it, DAT and Truckstop as competing platforms that enable truckload transactions, payment solutions and carrier vetting. Newtrul was founded in 2018 to build a platform tied into the transportation management systems (TMSs) of truckload carriers and brokers so that the system had built-in information about the carrier, not just that they had capacity available at a specific time. In a LinkedIn post Thursday, co-founder and CEO Ed Stockman said Newtrul set out to accomplish three things: create application programming interfaces (APIs) to automate truckload transactions, reduce costs on both ends of those transactions, and “disrupt the legacy incumbents.” “We were successful with the first two and could never quite make a dent [with] the 300-pound gorilla,” Stockman said in explaining the sale to Highway. “We’ve built a state-of-the-art digital freight exchange ... around integrity and quality and are signing dozens of customers each and every day.” Caney said Highway was drawn to the acquisition by Newtrul’s talent, intellectual property in freight matching and its existing TMS integrations. More broadly, the acquisition continues a busy year in <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/truckstopcom-acquires-truckload-factoring-service-denim-6065710">truckload deal activity</a> for startups in the <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/dat-acquiring-convoy-automation-platform-from-flexport-6051850">freight matching</a>, pricing, payment and carrier performance spaces, with Triumph, DAT and Truckstop all having <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/triumph-acquires-broker-focused-pricing-technology-provider-greenscreensai-5951484">acquired startups</a> in those areas. Contact Eric Johnson at <a href="mailto:eric.johnson@spglobal.com">eric.johnson@spglobal.com</a>. </div>

Carrier identity software provider Highway has continued its drive to enable truckload transactions through the acquisition of Newtrul, a freight marketplace launched to compete with existing load boards such as DAT Freight & Analytics and Truckstop.com. The deal, announced Thursday, will help Highway accelerate adoption of its Trusted Freight Exchange (TFX) that was launched in August with partner Triumph, Highway’s Chief Commercial Officer Michael Caney told the Journal of Commerce. Terms were not disclosed. The acquisition of Newtrul further places Highway in the heart of a battle between it, DAT and Truckstop as competing platforms that enable truckload transactions, payment solutions and carrier vetting. Newtrul was founded in 2018 to build a platform tied into the transportation management systems (TMSs) of truckload carriers and brokers so that the system had built-in information about the carrier, not just that they had capacity available at a specific time. In a LinkedIn post Thursday, co-founder and CEO Ed Stockman said Newtrul set out to accomplish three things: create application programming interfaces (APIs) to automate truckload transactions, reduce costs on both ends of those transactions, and “disrupt the legacy incumbents.” “We were successful with the first two and could never quite make a dent [with] the 300-pound gorilla,” Stockman said in explaining the sale to Highway. “We’ve built a state-of-the-art digital freight exchange ... around integrity and quality and are signing dozens of customers each and every day.” Caney said Highway was drawn to the acquisition by Newtrul’s talent, intellectual property in freight matching and its existing TMS integrations. More broadly, the acquisition continues a busy year in truckload deal activity for startups in the freight matching , pricing, payment and carrier performance spaces, with Triumph, DAT and Truckstop all having acquired startups in those areas. Contact Eric Johnson at eric.johnson@spglobal.com .

Truckload

Logistics Technology News

Highway buys freight marketplace to accelerate load board rollout

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">Carriers that can take the most advantage of opportunities in a tight charter market are those whose fleets of small to midsize ships are already big or rapidly growing, and thus have the buffer to pounce on opportunities, writes Jeremy Masters.</div>

Carriers that can take the most advantage of opportunities in a tight charter market are those whose fleets of small to midsize ships are already big or rapidly growing, and thus have the buffer to pounce on opportunities, writes Jeremy Masters.

<div class="phx-topic">Relative rates, and thus relative returns, from different ocean trades are continuously fluid, and the level of variation is an incentive for carriers to regularly review where they deploy their assets. The large acquisitions by carriers such as Mediterranean Shipping Co. and CMA CGM of secondhand ships in the 2,000-8,000-TEU range that can be employed in the smaller deep-sea trades, regional trades and as feeders begs the question of where the best return is among many possibilities. <div class="wrapper-narrow float-right-element"><img src="/images/phoenix/6083340_0.1.jpg"></img></div>We looked at the current spot roundtrip of freight-all-kinds (FAK) rates per 40-foot/40-foot high cube (HC) containers (terminal handling charges and standard ancillaries included) on an absolute and per-nautical-mile basis in several trades where the predominant tonnage is in the 2,000-8,000 TEU range. It should be emphasized that as these are spot FAK rates, they are not the prices clients prefer or the rates that large volumes command. It’s also important to note that there is not a direct correlation between the revenue per nautical mile and the return in a trade because other factors are also critical, including the percentage of contract/high volume business and their relative rates, cost per slot, utilization, imbalance cost and so on. But it’s certainly an initial indicator of what trades may be attractive to expand in or enter. The results range widely and the revenue per nautical mile at the top end promises healthy returns, whereas carriers tend to struggle at the bottom end. Big ship trades were excluded, but it’s worth noting that feeder ships in the small to midsize range are used in these trades to serve outports, and real returns are very dependent on the health of the main trade. Internal accounting practices can move the dial, but if the rate today from Shanghai to European outports is not that much more than the rate in some high-end intra-Asia trades, then serving those outports may not be a good use of internal assets (versus using a third-party feeder) unless higher-paying intra-Europe business can subsidize the short-sea deployment. <div class="wrapper-full"><table><colgroup><col width="12.5%"></col><col width="12.5%"></col><col width="12.5%"></col><col width="12.5%"></col><col width="12.5%"></col><col width="12.5%"></col><col width="12.5%"></col><col width="12.5%"></col></colgroup><caption>Ranked roundtrip spot FAK rates, including THCs and all ancillaries per 40’/40’ HC, in USD</caption><tbody><tr><td>Trade</td><td class="align-right">Lane</td><td class="align-right">Rate</td><td class="align-right">Lane</td><td class="align-right">Rate</td><td class="align-right">Roundtrip rate</td><td class="align-right">Roundtrip nautical miles</td><td class="align-right">USD per nautical mile</td></tr><tr><td>Intra-Asia</td><td class="align-right">Port Klang to Manila</td><td class="align-right">1,500</td><td class="align-right">Manila to Port Klang</td><td class="align-right">400</td><td class="align-right">1,900</td><td class="align-right">3,102</td><td class="align-right">0.61</td></tr><tr><td>Med to USEC</td><td class="align-right">Genoa to New York</td><td class="align-right">4,050</td><td class="align-right">New York to Genoa</td><td class="align-right">700</td><td class="align-right">4,750</td><td class="align-right">8,428</td><td class="align-right">0.56</td></tr><tr><td>N. Europe to W. Africa</td><td class="align-right">Antwerp to Abidjan</td><td class="align-right">*2,600</td><td class="align-right">Abidjan to Antwerp</td><td class="align-right">*1,350</td><td class="align-right">*3,950</td><td class="align-right">8,014</td><td class="align-right">0.49</td></tr><tr><td>N. Asia to ANZ</td><td class="align-right">Shanghai to Sydney</td><td class="align-right">3,500</td><td class="align-right">Sydney to Shanghai</td><td class="align-right">500</td><td class="align-right">4,000</td><td class="align-right">9,230</td><td class="align-right">0.43</td></tr><tr><td>N. Europe to USEC</td><td class="align-right">Rotterdam to New York</td><td class="align-right">1,950</td><td class="align-right">New York to Rotterdam</td><td class="align-right">750</td><td class="align-right">2,700</td><td class="align-right">6,870</td><td class="align-right">0.39</td></tr><tr><td>N. Asia to Indian Subcont</td><td class="align-right">Shanghai to Mundra</td><td class="align-right">1,950</td><td class="align-right">Mundra to Shanghai</td><td class="align-right">450</td><td class="align-right">2,050</td><td class="align-right">7,756</td><td class="align-right">0.26</td></tr></tbody><tfoot><tr><td colspan="8">*Converted to USD from euros</td></tr></tfoot></table></div>These stark differences in earning power beg the question: Why don’t existing carriers upgrade their services and/or new carriers promptly enter the higher-paying trades? Reasons for sitting on the fence include a) too much opportunistic chopping and changing of tonnage between trades will impact continuity of coverage; b) the health of some individual trades is historically volatile; c) the smaller trades can be more vulnerable to an upgrade or new loop, tipping supply/demand adversely; d) the charter market is tight; and e) there is a cost to moving ships between trades. <h3>Opportunities ‘are not equal’ </h3>The counter arguments for moving decisively and quickly, even if it means moving ships between trades, are many. Taking ships off an over-tonnaged trade with poor returns into an under-tonnaged trade with much better returns is a double win — the assets earn more money in the new trade and by taking them off the struggling trade, the supply/demand balance is improved there for remaining assets. Secondly, carriers don’t necessarily have to be dependent entirely on the trade they are entering but can also look at connecting trades to spread their risk; that is, minimizing the danger of moving a trade into oversupply. Third, some trades are more niche than others, but once entry has been made, the returns are much steadier than in the “feast or famine” big East-West trades. Finally, nature abhors a vacuum, so if you don’t do it, your competition will. The first mover in a midsize trade will be favored and can secure its position. Opportunities are not equal. The recent increases in intra-Asia rates, for instance, are partly caused by a diversion of US export business to intra-Asia, as well as port congestion in some ports. The intra-Asia trade can be expected to remain robust, but some of the current highly inflated rates are unlikely to persist. The ideal smaller deep-sea or regional trade for a carrier to enter is one that has been relatively sheltered (veering toward having insufficient capacity), has consistently good rates and has connectivity from sub-trades that spread the risk of entry and make it less likely that new capacity will adversely alter supply and demand. The carriers that have the best base to take the most advantage of these opportunities in a tight charter market are those whose fleets of small to midsize ships are already big or rapidly growing, and thus have the buffer to pounce on opportunities. Fortune, however, also favors the bold, and biting the bullet on moving assets between trades is open to both big and midsize operators. Jeremy Masters is managing director of Shipping Masters. Contact him at <a href="mailto:jeremy@shippingmastershk.com">jeremy@shippingmastershk.com</a>. </div>

Relative rates, and thus relative returns, from different ocean trades are continuously fluid, and the level of variation is an incentive for carriers to regularly review where they deploy their assets. The large acquisitions by carriers such as Mediterranean Shipping Co. and CMA CGM of secondhand ships in the 2,000-8,000-TEU range that can be employed in the smaller deep-sea trades, regional trades and as feeders begs the question of where the best return is among many possibilities. We looked at the current spot roundtrip of freight-all-kinds (FAK) rates per 40-foot/40-foot high cube (HC) containers (terminal handling charges and standard ancillaries included) on an absolute and per-nautical-mile basis in several trades where the predominant tonnage is in the 2,000-8,000 TEU range. It should be emphasized that as these are spot FAK rates, they are not the prices clients prefer or the rates that large volumes command. It’s also important to note that there is not a direct correlation between the revenue per nautical mile and the return in a trade because other factors are also critical, including the percentage of contract/high volume business and their relative rates, cost per slot, utilization, imbalance cost and so on. But it’s certainly an initial indicator of what trades may be attractive to expand in or enter. The results range widely and the revenue per nautical mile at the top end promises healthy returns, whereas carriers tend to struggle at the bottom end. Big ship trades were excluded, but it’s worth noting that feeder ships in the small to midsize range are used in these trades to serve outports, and real returns are very dependent on the health of the main trade. Internal accounting practices can move the dial, but if the rate today from Shanghai to European outports is not that much more than the rate in some high-end intra-Asia trades, then serving those outports may not be a good use of internal assets (versus using a third-party feeder) unless higher-paying intra-Europe business can subsidize the short-sea deployment. Ranked roundtrip spot FAK rates, including THCs and all ancillaries per 40’/40’ HC, in USD Trade Lane Rate Lane Rate Roundtrip rate Roundtrip nautical miles USD per nautical mile Intra-Asia Port Klang to Manila 1,500 Manila to Port Klang 400 1,900 3,102 0.61 Med to USEC Genoa to New York 4,050 New York to Genoa 700 4,750 8,428 0.56 N. Europe to W. Africa Antwerp to Abidjan *2,600 Abidjan to Antwerp *1,350 *3,950 8,014 0.49 N. Asia to ANZ Shanghai to Sydney 3,500 Sydney to Shanghai 500 4,000 9,230 0.43 N. Europe to USEC Rotterdam to New York 1,950 New York to Rotterdam 750 2,700 6,870 0.39 N. Asia to Indian Subcont Shanghai to Mundra 1,950 Mundra to Shanghai 450 2,050 7,756 0.26 *Converted to USD from euros These stark differences in earning power beg the question: Why don’t existing carriers upgrade their services and/or new carriers promptly enter the higher-paying trades? Reasons for sitting on the fence include a) too much opportunistic chopping and changing of tonnage between trades will impact continuity of coverage; b) the health of some individual trades is historically volatile; c) the smaller trades can be more vulnerable to an upgrade or new loop, tipping supply/demand adversely; d) the charter market is tight; and e) there is a cost to moving ships between trades. Opportunities ‘are not equal’ The counter arguments for moving decisively and quickly, even if it means moving ships between trades, are many. Taking ships off an over-tonnaged trade with poor returns into an under-tonnaged trade with much better returns is a double win — the assets earn more money in the new trade and by taking them off the struggling trade, the supply/demand balance is improved there for remaining assets. Secondly, carriers don’t necessarily have to be dependent entirely on the trade they are entering but can also look at connecting trades to spread their risk; that is, minimizing the danger of moving a trade into oversupply. Third, some trades are more niche than others, but once entry has been made, the returns are much steadier than in the “feast or famine” big East-West trades. Finally, nature abhors a vacuum, so if you don’t do it, your competition will. The first mover in a midsize trade will be favored and can secure its position. Opportunities are not equal. The recent increases in intra-Asia rates, for instance, are partly caused by a diversion of US export business to intra-Asia, as well as port congestion in some ports. The intra-Asia trade can be expected to remain robust, but some of the current highly inflated rates are unlikely to persist. The ideal smaller deep-sea or regional trade for a carrier to enter is one that has been relatively sheltered (veering toward having insufficient capacity), has consistently good rates and has connectivity from sub-trades that spread the risk of entry and make it less likely that new capacity will adversely alter supply and demand. The carriers that have the best base to take the most advantage of these opportunities in a tight charter market are those whose fleets of small to midsize ships are already big or rapidly growing, and thus have the buffer to pounce on opportunities. Fortune, however, also favors the bold, and biting the bullet on moving assets between trades is open to both big and midsize operators. Jeremy Masters is managing director of Shipping Masters. Contact him at jeremy@shippingmastershk.com .

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Container Shipping News

Maritime

Rate variations by trade reward ‘nimble’ ocean carriers

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">Forwarders said capacity utilization for USEC sailings out of West India has fallen to between 60% and 70% from the 80% to 90% level normally seen for the premier networks.</div>

Forwarders said capacity utilization for USEC sailings out of West India has fallen to between 60% and 70% from the 80% to 90% level normally seen for the premier networks.

<div class="phx-topic">The downward shift in ocean rates from India to North America is becoming more pronounced as container carriers active on the trade lane struggle to fill vessel space amid the growing pressure of elevated US tariffs. Average spot rates from West India (Nhava Sheva/Mundra) to the US East Coast (New York) have dropped between $400 and $600 per FEU in September to date, new data from local freight forwarders shows. Asian carriers — mostly working on slot charter rights — are said to have been more aggressive in cutting prices. Forwarder sources put spot quotes by Cosco Shipping/OOCL, HMM and Ocean Network Express (ONE) for Nhava Sheva-New York bookings at $1,600 to $1,800 per FEU, versus the $1,900 to $2,100 range offered by bigger European operators. Those prices are down from $2,000 to $2,100 and $2,300 to $2,500, respectively, reported in the second half of August. Platts, a sister company of the Journal of Commerce within S&amp;P Global, pegged rates at $1,888 per FEU as of Sep. 18, down 2% on the week. Forwarders who spoke with the Journal of Commerce said capacity utilization for USEC sailings out of West India has fallen to between 60% and 70% from the 80% to 90% level normally seen for the premier networks. That comes after volumes on the India-US trade saw an uptick in August — rising to 123,170 TEUs from 119,370 TEUs in July, according to PIERS, a sister product of the Journal of Commerce within S&amp;P Global. Industry sources believe the full impact of higher US tariffs on export volumes will be known in early October as holiday-linked shipments already in the pipeline or committed by large US retail buyers have continued to flow out. It’s also a general view that carriers might be able to keep readjusted rates running through the month because of the vessel blank sailings implemented. “Next month will be a mammoth test for carriers,” said a forwarder executive who didn’t want to be identified. “All previously lined up rate increase plans for October are being junked.” Sources expect India-USEC rates to weaken to $1,500 to $1,600 per FEU by mid-October under the current scenario, even for European carriers. <div class="wrapper-narrow"><dynamic-object type="jocchartid" resource-id="56199e2b-5df4-468f-a149-b18ae7c32e51"></dynamic-object></div>Carriers appear to be holding their breath amid the market volatility. “As of now, it’s not so alarming as major global accounts haven’t halted shipments entirely,” a sales executive for a European liner said. “But our sales reviews point to a 40% drop in volumes for October sailings.” There are indications that the lead India-USEC liners will cut a significant portion of available capacity in October by voiding multiple calls in a bid to stem the accelerating rate erosion. India-US West Coast rates are also losing steam, now pegged at between $1,600 and $1,700 per FEU, sources said, a sharp decline from the $2,300 to $2,500 trendline in August. Those trade concerns are not without merit. India’s merchandise exports to the US by value saw the slowest monthly pace in 2025 in August, down about 16% month over month, according to provisional data. Contact Bency Mathew at <a href="mailto:bencyvmathew@gmail.com">bencyvmathew@gmail.com</a>. </div>

The downward shift in ocean rates from India to North America is becoming more pronounced as container carriers active on the trade lane struggle to fill vessel space amid the growing pressure of elevated US tariffs. Average spot rates from West India (Nhava Sheva/Mundra) to the US East Coast (New York) have dropped between $400 and $600 per FEU in September to date, new data from local freight forwarders shows. Asian carriers — mostly working on slot charter rights — are said to have been more aggressive in cutting prices. Forwarder sources put spot quotes by Cosco Shipping/OOCL, HMM and Ocean Network Express (ONE) for Nhava Sheva-New York bookings at $1,600 to $1,800 per FEU, versus the $1,900 to $2,100 range offered by bigger European operators. Those prices are down from $2,000 to $2,100 and $2,300 to $2,500, respectively, reported in the second half of August. Platts, a sister company of the Journal of Commerce within S&P Global, pegged rates at $1,888 per FEU as of Sep. 18, down 2% on the week. Forwarders who spoke with the Journal of Commerce said capacity utilization for USEC sailings out of West India has fallen to between 60% and 70% from the 80% to 90% level normally seen for the premier networks. That comes after volumes on the India-US trade saw an uptick in August — rising to 123,170 TEUs from 119,370 TEUs in July, according to PIERS, a sister product of the Journal of Commerce within S&P Global. Industry sources believe the full impact of higher US tariffs on export volumes will be known in early October as holiday-linked shipments already in the pipeline or committed by large US retail buyers have continued to flow out. It’s also a general view that carriers might be able to keep readjusted rates running through the month because of the vessel blank sailings implemented. “Next month will be a mammoth test for carriers,” said a forwarder executive who didn’t want to be identified. “All previously lined up rate increase plans for October are being junked.” Sources expect India-USEC rates to weaken to $1,500 to $1,600 per FEU by mid-October under the current scenario, even for European carriers. Carriers appear to be holding their breath amid the market volatility. “As of now, it’s not so alarming as major global accounts haven’t halted shipments entirely,” a sales executive for a European liner said. “But our sales reviews point to a 40% drop in volumes for October sailings.” There are indications that the lead India-USEC liners will cut a significant portion of available capacity in October by voiding multiple calls in a bid to stem the accelerating rate erosion. India-US West Coast rates are also losing steam, now pegged at between $1,600 and $1,700 per FEU, sources said, a sharp decline from the $2,300 to $2,500 trendline in August. Those trade concerns are not without merit. India’s merchandise exports to the US by value saw the slowest monthly pace in 2025 in August, down about 16% month over month, according to provisional data. Contact Bency Mathew at bencyvmathew@gmail.com .

Forwarding

Trans-Pacific

Tariff-linked trade downturn keeps India-US ocean rates sliding

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">The terminal would cement the port’s status as the biggest gateway in South America, boosting its annual container capacity by almost 60% and allowing it to handle 20,000-TEUs ships, many of those from Asia.</div>

The terminal would cement the port’s status as the biggest gateway in South America, boosting its annual container capacity by almost 60% and allowing it to handle 20,000-TEUs ships, many of those from Asia.

<div class="phx-topic">Brazil’s Port of Santos is seeking to develop what would be the largest container terminal in South America with plans to hold an auction, possibly before the end of this year, to determine who develops and operates the $1.06 billion facility. The terminal, known as Tecon Santos 10, would cement the port’s status as the biggest gateway on the continent, boosting its annual container capacity by almost 60% to 8.73 million TEUs and allowing it to handle 20,000-TEUs ships, many of those from Asia. Data from maritime consultancy Drewry shows container volumes at Santos for this year through July were up 8% compared to the same period in 2024 and the Santos Port Authority forecasts volumes to continue growing at about 3% annually. Over the last five years, Santos' compound annual growth rate for revenue has been almost 11%. “There is no denying that there is an urgent need for additional capacity at the Port of Santos,” Eleanor Hadland, Drewry’s lead analyst for ports and terminals, told the Journal of Commerce. <h3>Auction controversy </h3>The planned search for a developer and operator of Tecon Santos 10 has not been without controversy, according to Brazilian outlet Valor International. Brazil's National Waterway Transport Agency approved a two-phase auction process that would prohibit several carriers, including Maersk, Mediterranean Shipping Co. and CMA CGM, from participating in the first round in order to boost the chances of smaller terminal operators. A Brazilian judge in July rejected a request from Maersk to halt the bidding process, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/brazil-judge-rejects-maersk-request-alter-1-bln-port-auction-2025-07-23/">according to Reuters</a>, after the carrier in June sued Santos for being excluded. "Excluding companies with broad international experience, responsible for managing some of the most efficient ports globally, without thorough studies to support such a decision, significantly diminishes the project's potential at Latin America's largest port," Maersk said in a statement to Reuters. The two-phase plan was also met with resistance from Brazil’s Finance Ministry, who instead recommended the auction be held in one part, with the winning bidder required to divest assets if it already operates at the Port of Santos, <a href="https://valorinternational.globo.com/business/news/2025/08/22/finance-ministry-backs-single-stage-auction-for-tecon-santos.ghtml">Valor International reported</a> on Aug. 22. <h3>Road network upgrades </h3>The planned terminal project has also raised concerns about whether Santos’ road network can handle the new volumes brought on by the infrastructure growth. “While [the new terminal] may translate to improved vessel turnaround, upgrading the capacity of the road network around the port is also critical for the efficient operation of Brazil’s largest container port,” said Hadland. Some of those road network upgrades are already underway. The Santos-Guarujá Tunnel, an underwater tunnel that will serve commercial and passenger vehicles, will reduce the journey between the cities of Santos and Guarujá from about 40 kilometers in 40 minutes to less than one kilometer in just over one minute, Port of Santos Press Supervisor Paulo Silveira told the Journal of Commerce The Portuguese company Mota-Engil is expected to begin construction of the tunnel later this year, said Silveira. Contact Laura Robb at <a href="mailto:Laura.Robb@spglobal.com">laura.robb@spglobal.com</a>.  </div>

Brazil’s Port of Santos is seeking to develop what would be the largest container terminal in South America with plans to hold an auction, possibly before the end of this year, to determine who develops and operates the $1.06 billion facility. The terminal, known as Tecon Santos 10, would cement the port’s status as the biggest gateway on the continent, boosting its annual container capacity by almost 60% to 8.73 million TEUs and allowing it to handle 20,000-TEUs ships, many of those from Asia. Data from maritime consultancy Drewry shows container volumes at Santos for this year through July were up 8% compared to the same period in 2024 and the Santos Port Authority forecasts volumes to continue growing at about 3% annually. Over the last five years, Santos' compound annual growth rate for revenue has been almost 11%. “There is no denying that there is an urgent need for additional capacity at the Port of Santos,” Eleanor Hadland, Drewry’s lead analyst for ports and terminals, told the Journal of Commerce. Auction controversy The planned search for a developer and operator of Tecon Santos 10 has not been without controversy, according to Brazilian outlet Valor International. Brazil's National Waterway Transport Agency approved a two-phase auction process that would prohibit several carriers, including Maersk, Mediterranean Shipping Co. and CMA CGM, from participating in the first round in order to boost the chances of smaller terminal operators. A Brazilian judge in July rejected a request from Maersk to halt the bidding process, according to Reuters , after the carrier in June sued Santos for being excluded. "Excluding companies with broad international experience, responsible for managing some of the most efficient ports globally, without thorough studies to support such a decision, significantly diminishes the project's potential at Latin America's largest port," Maersk said in a statement to Reuters. The two-phase plan was also met with resistance from Brazil’s Finance Ministry, who instead recommended the auction be held in one part, with the winning bidder required to divest assets if it already operates at the Port of Santos, Valor International reported on Aug. 22. Road network upgrades The planned terminal project has also raised concerns about whether Santos’ road network can handle the new volumes brought on by the infrastructure growth. “While [the new terminal] may translate to improved vessel turnaround, upgrading the capacity of the road network around the port is also critical for the efficient operation of Brazil’s largest container port,” said Hadland. Some of those road network upgrades are already underway. The Santos-Guarujá Tunnel, an underwater tunnel that will serve commercial and passenger vehicles, will reduce the journey between the cities of Santos and Guarujá from about 40 kilometers in 40 minutes to less than one kilometer in just over one minute, Port of Santos Press Supervisor Paulo Silveira told the Journal of Commerce The Portuguese company Mota-Engil is expected to begin construction of the tunnel later this year, said Silveira. Contact Laura Robb at laura.robb@spglobal.com . 

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Brazil’s Santos readies development of South America’s largest box terminal

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In today’s competitive logistical landscape, efficiency is an absolute necessity for smooth operations. Yet, in the barge sector, many operators still rely on fragmented systems, delayed updates, and manual tracking methods that slow decision-making and increase operational risk. OpenTug’s new eBook, How Enhanced Visibility Transforms Barge Operations, reveals how unified, real-time data can become your competitive advantage leading to improved voyage management and more actionable insights. Drawing on industry best practices and real-world examples, it explores how operational transparency empowers teams to: ●	Reduce delays with accurate ETAs and proactive scheduling decisions ●	Improve asset utilization by identifying underused equipment and optimizing cargos ●	Strengthen safety and compliance through consistent, accessible documentation and reporting ●	Boost customer satisfaction with transparent status updates and faster response time You’ll learn how visibility can connect every part of your operation into a single, actionable view. The ability to see and act on real-time information transforms the way you plan, execute, and deliver. From managing a small regional fleet to running a large, national operation, this eBook will help you understand the measurable benefits of enhanced visibility and how technology like BargeOS is transforming the way barge logistics is managed. Get your copy today and see how clear insights lead to stronger performance, smarter decisions, and more profitable operations. <a href="https://9315820.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/9315820/eBook/Nav-theFuture-AJW-08.19.25.pdf" rel="noreferrer" class="joc_admin__link">Click here</a><span class="joc_admin__inline-image joc_admin__inline-image-aspect-ratio-16_9 joc_admin__inline-image-position-left joc_admin__inline-image-size-small" data-figure-size="small" data-figure-position="left" data-figure-aspect-ratio="16:9"><img src="/content-assets/1756152344211_Opentug%20logo.png" alt="" class="joc_admin__inline-image-inherit">

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Transform Barge Operations with Total Visibility

At SSA Marine Mexico, we firmly believe that business development must go hand in hand with social and environmental well-being. Our vision is not solely focused on operating efficiently, but also on creating a meaningful and positive impact in the communities where we are present. Since 1995, we have reaffirmed this commitment through tangible actions that reflect our core values of responsibility, solidarity, and sustainability. <span class="joc_admin__inline-image joc_admin__inline-image-aspect-ratio-3_2 joc_admin__inline-image-position-left joc_admin__inline-image-size-medium" data-figure-size="medium" data-figure-position="left" data-figure-aspect-ratio="3:2"><img src="/content-assets/1752584535914_Photo%201.jpg" alt="" class="joc_admin__inline-image-inherit"> A Year of Major Achievements Over the past year, we allocated more than $107,000 USD to the implementation of 60 social and environmental projects, positively impacting over 7,800 people across various regions of Mexico. Each initiative was designed with a holistic approach, addressing key areas that contribute to long-term community development. Education: Laying the Foundation for the Future Education is one of the most powerful tools to promote social mobility and equitable development. At SSA Marine Mexico, we support academic initiatives that inspire and empower the next generation of leaders. One of our most impactful partnerships was with the University of Colima, where we sponsored the “Reto Camp” program. This initiative encourages university students to develop innovative solutions in the fields of sustainability, logistics, and port operations, offering them mentorship, tools, and real-world challenges to solve. In addition, we donated microscopes, school supplies, and educational materials to institutions in underserved communities, helping to improve the learning environment and provide students with the resources they need to succeed. Health and Sports: Promoting Wellness We believe that healthy communities are strong communities. We have supported several local sporting events and provided direct assistance to talented athletes, enabling them to pursue their passions and represent their regions with pride. Beyond sports, we also strengthened our collaboration with critical emergency response organizations such as the Mexican Red Cross and Civil Protection. Our contributions helped enhance their readiness and capabilities in times of crisis, ensuring better outcomes for those affected by emergencies. Supporting Vulnerable Groups: Reaching Those Who Need It Most A core part of our social responsibility efforts is directed toward supporting vulnerable populations. We have contributed to a range of initiatives focused on children, migrants, and at-risk families. These efforts included donations to orphanages and shelters, as well as support for the National Institute of Migration and grassroots organizations dedicated to protecting and empowering people facing adversity. By standing with those in need, we reinforce our commitment to inclusion and social justice, values that are central to our identity as a responsible company. <span class="joc_admin__inline-image joc_admin__inline-image-aspect-ratio-3_2 joc_admin__inline-image-position-left joc_admin__inline-image-size-medium" data-figure-size="medium" data-figure-position="left" data-figure-aspect-ratio="3:2"><img src="/content-assets/1752584944645_Photo%202.png" alt="" class="joc_admin__inline-image-inherit">Culture: Strengthening Community Identity Cultural identity is a key element in building resilient and united communities. At SSA Marine Mexico, we actively participate in the organization and sponsorship of cultural events that celebrate local traditions and foster civic pride. Working alongside port authorities and municipal governments, we helped bring music, art, and heritage to the forefront, creating spaces for community engagement and intercultural dialogue. Environment: Investing in the Planet Our commitment to sustainability goes beyond operations—it’s a philosophy that drives every decision we make. We have partnered with environmental institutions to carry out reforestation campaigns, beach cleanups, and conservation efforts. In collaboration with the Institute for the Environment, we supported initiatives aimed at decarbonization, biodiversity protection, and environmental education. By involving our employees and local volunteers in these actions, we also foster a culture of environmental stewardship throughout our organization and our surrounding communities. Innovation for a Sustainable Future Sustainability is not just about doing good—it’s also about doing things better. In 2024, we invested $22 million USD in the acquisition of 11 state-of-the-art E-RTG cranes. These electric rubber-tired gantry cranes represent a significant technological advancement in port equipment. Seven of them are already operating on clean electric energy, resulting in a reduction of nearly 4,000 tons of CO₂ emissions and improving operational efficiency by 7%. The remaining four cranes are fully compatible with future electrification, underscoring our long-term strategy to modernize our operations in an environmentally responsible way. This investment is part of a broader innovation roadmap that includes digitalization, automation, and cleaner energy sources—all designed to ensure that our ports continue to grow without compromising the health of our planet. Building a Better Tomorrow, Together At SSA Marine Mexico, we understand that sustainability is a shared and ongoing responsibility. True impact requires collaboration across sectors, long-term vision, and unwavering commitment. That is why we continue to work hand-in-hand with local authorities, non-profit organizations, universities, and our own employees to create solutions that are both scalable and sustainable. Our journey is far from over. In the years ahead, we will continue to deepen our community engagement, explore cleaner technologies, and strengthen the social fabric of the regions where we operate. Each initiative, no matter the size, is a step toward building a future where business success goes hand-in-hand with human and environmental prosperity. We are proud of what we have achieved in 2024, but we are even more excited about what lies ahead. SSA Marine Mexico — Moving the World, Caring for People and Planet. LINK: <a href="https://www.ssamarine.mx/" rel="noreferrer" class="joc_admin__link">https://www.ssamarine.mx/</a>

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SSA Marine Mexico: True Commitment to Sustainability

The world of LTL is slow to embrace change. Business anachronisms permeate current supply chain processes. These vestiges of the way things used to work define the LTL freight transportation procurement process of many modern shippers.David Knuth, logistics specialist at IEWC, a global supplier of cable and wire based in Wisconsin, is happy to have modernized the RFP process, automating the entire LTL bidding procedure with Bid$ense, SMC³’s automated truckload and LTL freight transportation sourcing solution. But when prompted, he can still recall what once was.In his previous job, a large part of his duties were consumed by creating an intermodal bid package for carriers. In a spreadsheet, Knuth detailed the company’s volumes lane by lane, taking care to delete any errant keystrokes or misleading data. He would then email out the information to each carrier, taking time to respond to detailed technical questions about the spreadsheet data. Finally, he had to compile all the results, create an algorithm that would compare the carriers on each lane, and award the business.“It was a huge undertaking. It took about four months to do,” Knuth said of the old process. “It was almost a full-time job for that part of the year, every year.”In his new job at IEWC, he sat down with Bid$ense on day one and was amazed at the capabilities. Knuth had never before used a bid tool. SMC³’s latest versions of Bid$ense automate the process even further, taking truckload and LTL RFPs entirely online. The tool draws on RFP best-practices protocols to streamline the bidding communication process, enabling bidding carriers to respond accurately and promptly to shipper requests. The solution also does all the distribution work automatically, electronically submitting shipper bid data to carriers based on their actual service capabilities and performance records. Carriers are alerted with timely prompts for RFP deliverables, so shippers aren’t waiting by the phone for responses.Another benefit of automating the process is the data-cleansing assistance. When Knuth sent spreadsheets to carriers, data errors might cloud the bidding process; he might have to resend data or simply accept a price that did not truly reflect the costs of doing business. Data cleansing is incredibly beneficial, he said.The spreadsheet technique also made bidding analysis an onerous task. Since Bid$ense automates and streamlines the entire RFP process, intensive examination is now simple. SMC³ knows that each bid has more than one best outcome. With uniform responses from each carrier, shippers can quickly rank results and create an unlimited quantity of what-if scenarios to make the optimal procurement decision.Jesse Burnett of Central Garden &amp; Pet experiences many of the same benefits. Founded in 1980, Central Garden &amp; Pet has spent the last three decades growing from a small garden supply company to a provider of a range of products from dog chews and bird seed to soil supplements and natural insecticides. For much of its life, the company shipped these disparate goods via LTL and truckload carriers to retailers throughout the country, relying on each business unit to negotiate directly with their freight transportation providers. This arrangement worked fairly well for a small company, but as Central Garden &amp; Pet expanded, leadership decided to consolidate decision making.Burnett helped centralize the transportation decision making in 2015 with SMC³’s Bid$ense. Before Bid$ense, every business unit operated independently as far as negotiating with carriers.“There were a lot of different things just floating around,” he said. “We didn’t have master agreements in place; no national pricing at all. The pricing from carriers was just all over the place, depending on where you were.”The transformations he saw with Bid$ense were immediate. Burnett has been using the tool about every other year since its implementation at the company. Central Garden and Pet’s $19.6 million 2019 LTL bid saved the company just more than 9 percent when compared to its historical average. For Burnett, though, bid automation extends far beyond savings.“We knew that we weren’t getting the best pricing offer from our carriers just because nothing was centralized,” he continued. “We knew that if we combined everything from all these business units and paired it with one corporate offering, then it would drive some cost benefit with it.”When the company initially decided to centralize bid procurement, executives researched a number of different methodologies and technologies. In the end, though, Burnett found that Bid$ense was both widespread and well known, and that his carrier partners already knew how to use the application. Burnett also highlighted the data-cleansing process as a major benefit, saying the rigorous process ensures that carriers always return the best price.“It definitely has helped drive savings,” he said. “Any time you go out there and you drive that competitiveness with the carriers and they know they’re in a bid environment, it seems to sharpen their pencils.”Transportation procurement is an integral part of the modern supply chain. With Bid$ense, shippers can develop a strategic implementation plan that saves them time and money, but also helps them create strong relationships with their carrier partners. These carriers appreciate the solution’s data-cleansing process; when carriers receive a complete shipment history and future volume forecast, they don’t have to guess on pricing. Carriers that receive more data from shippers get a complete picture of that shipper’s freight, allowing them to accurately plan instead of simply preparing for the worst-case scenario. Clean data presented through an automated system can lead to both bigger shipment savings and a lasting partnership between carrier and customer.Whether customers are looking to streamline over-the-road transportation bidding by automating the RFP process or create an entirely new, centralized sourcing process, Bid$ense has the analytical horsepower to get the job done.SMC³ 2020 Customer Case Study

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Shippers save money, time with automated transportation bidding tools

If there’s one immutable truth in the world of logistics, it’s this: LTL is an inherently complex form of transportation. Tariffs, rates, DIM weights, transit times — it’s enough to confuse even seasoned logistics professionals. The solution to this knowledge gap has historically been on-the-job training or university supply chain education, but for a variety of reasons there is now a pressing need for third-party, remote LTL training that prepares logistics workers for transportation success. Global Scope Can Overlook Local Intricacies In the past, professionals looking to move into a supply chain career learned about the basics of supply chain from universities. However, many of these college supply chain programs are now global in scope, focusing on worldwide supply chain management instead of the intricacies of specialized domestic transportation. And even these programs, which used to be widespread, are becoming less common. LTL is not an industry of broad-brush strokes; supply chain professionals really need a pointillistic understanding of the logistics of LTL in order to excel in the industry. Accelerating Need for Dedicated LTL Education This lack of specified training put the onus on employers to prepare new hires with the LTL knowledge needed to do their jobs. Dedicated LTL study is a necessity, not a luxury. At the same time, changes in LTL and the broader supply chain world are accelerating. The reliance on e-commerce has ballooned since the start of the pandemic, and last-mile LTL shipments and related e-commerce strains on the supply chain won’t diminish once social distancing abates. That genie isn’t going back into the bottle. So supply chain employers need logistics workers that are fully versed in all aspects of the industry, ready to solve unique shipping and delivery problems based on their extensive supply chain knowledge But why care about LTL? It’s been reported that some shippers in today’s world are no longer concerned with what mode is used to ship their goods. A Multimodal Approach Ensures On-Time Delivery This mode agnosticism means supply chain stakeholders have to be well versed in all modes of transportation. As unforeseen weather events and other disruptions, such as protests, become more common, savvy logistics employees will need to be armed with familiarity of all modes, not just the most popular, to ensure that freight is delivered on time, without damage, and in the most financially expedient way possible. Offerings like SMC³’s LTL online education courses cover a wide range of topics from LTL basics and operations to more advanced concepts like pricing analytics and transportation law. The company also has plans to continually refresh content, adding new expert presenters and taking the feedback of students to make the courses even better as time goes on. Learn more about&nbsp;<a href="https://logisticstrainingcenter.com/smc3-courses/" rel="noreferrer" class="joc_admin__link">SMC³’s LTL Online Education program</a>&nbsp;and view the 2021 hybrid schedule, featuring live industry experts,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.smc3.com/onlinelearning2021/" rel="noreferrer" class="joc_admin__link">here.</a>

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Filling the Supply Chain Education Gap with LTL Education Courses

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A must-attend conference for shippers & logistics providers moving goods inland

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Attend Inland25

Monthly publication providing an editorial deep dive into global supply chain news

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Journal of Commerce Magazine

A premium access index of savings using domestic intermodal vs. OTR 

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Intermodal Savings Index

An in-depth analysis of transport trends in the multipurpose and heavy-lift fleet segment

Breakbulk Report - Rectangle Box

Breakbulk Quarterly

An extensive dashboard of charts organized by trade lane, mode, and topic

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Gateway

Customers scoring their intermodal partners to identify the best service providers

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Intermodal Service Scorecard

A premium access outlook critical to shippers and transportation providers

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Quarterly Intelligence

The Journal of Commerce’s trucking news and analysis encompasses full truckload, less-than-truckload (LTL), private fleet trucking, refrigerated trucking, regulation, drayage, and transloading. Reporting centers on pricing, volume demand, capacity, labor, regulation, and service levels in US and Canadian trucking networks.

Truck brokers

Flatbed

Trucking labor

Discover comprehensive trucking news and trends with Journal of Commerce - from trucking LTL to regulation and trucking supply and demand.

Trucking News | Journal of Commerce

The Journal of Commerce’s surface transport news and analysis focuses on landside transport movement — from railroad news to trucking news — including full load trucking, less-than-truckload (LTL), refrigerated (or reefer) trucking, flatbed and domestic and international intermodal rail, and how it connects with seaports, inland rail hubs, distribution centers and transloading operations. Reporting on the surface transport sector covers the movement of domestic shipments within the United States and international cargoes transported via domestic equipment including trailers and 53-foot containers.

Stay updated with our rail transport news and trends. Journal of Commerce covers intermodal news, and port connectivity news in the container rail transport sector.

Rail News | Journal of Commerce

Rail News

Explore the world of ground transport news - from trucks to railroads, intermodal connections, and port ties. Daily insights on US and global shipments.

Latest News

More News & Analysis

Truckload carriers capturing more LTL shipments: FedEx Freight

Highway buys freight marketplace to accelerate load board rollout

Rate variations by trade reward ‘nimble’ ocean carriers