Top Rankings

Despite softening spot rates in some modes, overall supply chain costs are rising, with higher interest rates putting more pressure on inventories, according to the CSCMP State of Logistics report.

The market share of major carriers on the eastbound trans-Pacific fell through the first four months of the year amid the emergence of smaller players who took advantage of the import surge.

C.H. Robinson Worldwide says the changing trucking market is driving up demand for automated spot pricing quotes by double-digit percentages.

P.A.M. Transportation’s purchase of Northeastern carrier Metropolitan Trucking is the latest in a string of regional acquisitions by large national companies aimed at expanding services for shippers.

US producer price indexes show overall transportation costs and total trucking costs moved higher still in May, and S&P Global expects the trend to continue.

Pall-Ex Group, a franchise network of more than 700 truckers hauling palletized freight across Europe, wants to set up shop in the US and is looking for a beachhead in the LTL market.

Acquisitions are a tool with which profitable large carriers such as Schneider National and Heartland Express are expanding their footprints and their portfolio of services, despite market headwinds.

The cooling of trucking’s transactional spot market signals a “realignment,” not a contraction, as shippers cement contractual agreements and freight demand rises, albeit more slowly.

Despite strong demand both in the US and overseas, actual US vehicle production and sales remain restrained by parts shortages that forced automakers to halt production several times in 2021.

The addition of 22,500 trucking employees in May after a 14,900-gain in real jobs in April reveals a trucking sector confident in continuing freight demand as markets realign in 2022.

The acquisition of Smith Transport by Heartland Express points to continued strong freight demand as the shipping market seeks a new balance between contract and spot freight.

Expanded use of trailer pools will help ‘consolidate truckload services’ and speed goods more efficiently, but first trucking companies, brokers, and shippers need more trailers.

US Labor Department data that includes contract rates shows no drop in overall truck pricing in April, despite a truckload spot market rate plunge.

Walmart remained atop the list of the 100 largest US importers by a wide margin in 2021, while Koch Industries retained the No. 1 export spot.

For some US retailers, inventories are too high, but others are steadily building stockpiles to mitigate supply chain risks ahead of the year-end holidays, keeping freight demand high.

Increases in industrial production and retail sales in April suggest continuing strength in overall freight demand, despite tumbling truckload spot rates.

The debate over whether a freight recession is starting in US trucking is getting hotter as spot rates decline but other demand and pricing indicators stay positive.

Demand for LTL capacity is rising even faster than carriers can add terminals and doors, pushing rates higher still.

Forward Air is acquiring a Seattle-based drayage company as part of its strategy to direct more transloaded international container freight to its expedited LTL network.

For-hire trucking employment soared past seasonal expectations in April, underscoring strong demand despite declining spot market pricing.

Only four of the JOC Top 25 North American Container Ports handled fewer imports in 2021, but growth at major West Coast gateways lagged that of their East Coast competitors, resulting in a shift in market share.

Shipper demand for more integrated port-to-door logistics is driving development of new, denser distribution networks, with facilities popping up in previously overlooked locations, Ryder System said.

Knight-Swift now gets 13 percent of its revenue from its regional less-than-truckload subsidiaries, as it adds terminals and expands from a “super-regional” to a national footprint.

US shippers’ need for truck capacity guarantees in a volatile market is pushing more freight away from the spot market to contract carriers, especially the largest fleets such as Knight-Swift.

Carrier executives say US transportation markets are stabilizing, with spot rates falling as freight shifts to contract carriers, but new approaches to contracting and planning are needed to control costs.

Recent gains in manufacturing activity, including consumer goods production, suggest continued expansion of US freight demand while dampening worries about retail spending.

Truckload spot rates have cooled considerably in the last 45 days, but a larger freight recession may not be on the horizon given demand remains strong in other modes of commercial transportation.

Lineage’s latest acquisition expands the global food chain logistics company’s reach across Canada.

Better use of existing trucks and trailers is creating truckload capacity and reducing transportation costs, but it’s not clear how long that fresh capacity will be available, DAT principal analyst Dean Croke says.

The shift of containerized freight from the West Coast to the Gulf Coast and Southeast is absorbing truck capacity in those regions and pushing up spot rates, including rates from Houston to California.

Base US truckload spot rates are falling, but higher fuel costs and market volatility are limiting over-the-road savings for shippers.

After two incredibly tight years, the availability of truckload equipment and drivers is on the rise in the US, but constraints on capacity growth remain in place.

Growing e-commerce and import-export business is pulling Northeast regional LTL carrier A. Duie Pyle south to Virginia, where it plans to open three terminals and connect to ports.

The sudden increase in fuel-related shipping costs caused by the war in Ukraine is already changing how shippers plan to move goods within the US, forcing them to consolidate shipments and even change modes.

Less-than-truckload provider Yellow denied liability but agreed to settle a longstanding allegation that it charged the US Department of Defense too much for certain shipments before 2013.

The truckload and less-than-truckload markets are closer than ever, as retail demand and inventory replenishment put pressure on capacity, Knight-Swift CEO David Jackson says.

Double-digit increases in tonnage and volume at two of the largest less-than-truckload carriers in February reflect strong overall demand from US retail and industrial shippers.

On-dock automation and better analytical tools are helping linehaul LTL carrier Roadrunner cut transit times in 120 lanes as LTL shippers increase demand for speed, especially from ports.

Higher rates and accessorial charges helped the largest US less-than-truckload carriers add revenue at an unprecedented pace last year, with the five fastest-growing companies increasing their top line between 30 and 40 percent.

As it prepares to go public, Transfix is looking to derive more revenue from non-transactional shipper services, including its drop trailer program, and to draw smaller shippers to its platform.