Markets

Retail activity posted the strongest gain in five months, as big gains in auto sales and rising gasoline prices helped to drive overall activity. Core spending grew at a more moderate pace, but the broad-based nature of the gains is encouraging headed into the holiday season.

Good times at U.S. ports not expected to last as world’s largest shipping line warns trade war will rear up at start of next year.

2018 may have seen tight capacity and the strongest economy on record since the Great Recession, but what will 2019 look like?

“We went through a period when growth of shipping was 2-3 times the growth in international economy. I don’t think those times are coming back.”

New York and Crystal City the big winners, of course, but Music City will house e-retailer’s operations center for the eastern U.S.

The Cass Truckload Linehaul Index reached another record high in October while the company’s Intermodal Price Index points to rising intermodal costs.

The U.S.-China trade war has brought misery to the thriving U.S. lobster industry, which is now feeling the heat of an additional 25% tariff that Beijing slapped on its live and processed lobster exports to China.

DHL hopes plan will attract new recruits to industry as shortfall looms.

China’s imports record strong third quarter with October data also suggesting more goods on the way.

Data on producer prices shows that overall inflation pressure jumped at the start of the 4th quarter, though core price gains were more modest. Industry detail showed that trucking rates posted another solid gain in October, with big gains in long-distance rates offsetting declines in LTL.

Lows water levels are seasonal, but this year has been record, impeding low-cost barges and favoring high-cost trucking.

More of the same. That was the consensus in a quick informal poll of listeners to FTR’s State of Freight webinar on Thursday when they were asked what the most likely outcome was for the U.S. economy in 2019.

Rail and truck demand a secondary casualty in trade dispute.

A surge in freight from Los Angeles has started to inflect the Dallas and Houston freight markets. Meanwhile, Harrisburg, PA’s strong headhaul score makes that Northeast market a diamond in the rough.

A decrease in coal volumes did not slow a revenue rise at BNSF Railway Company, which posted a 16% increase in operating revenues in the third quarter compared to Q3 2017.

The measure would have rolled back diesel fuel taxes from 36 to 16 cents a gallon.

Tuesdays may not be good days to be on the road; transport firms need to boost analytics usage to match what customers are doing.

Job growth rebounded in October after Hurricane Florence disrupted hiring activity in the previous month. Within the transportation and logistics industry, trucking payrolls expanded for the sixth consecutive month, though growth lagged behind the pace of hiring among parcel companies and warehouses.

SONAR’s OTVI.LAX is clearly indicating that the strength in the inbound loaded container flow out of the Long Beach/LA port is continuing and gathering momentum.

A monthly survey of all the important economic developments from the past month, and a look at some of the key trends to watch throughout the month of November.

The pipelines taking oil away from the Permian are at capacity, causing a buildup of WTI inventory at the Cushing, OK storage sites and depressing the price of WTI against Brent. Prices would be even lower if Venezuela and Iran weren’t causing further worries about global supply.

In a CarrierLists survey of fleets, most respondents expect rates and volumes to remain the same or improve in 2019.

FreightWaves discussed how the midterm elections impact the economy at large, and specifically how it pertains to freight. What are the implications to the economic indicators regardless of the winner?

The FreightWaves Research Institute is excited to announce the release of its second white paper, Global Freight Tickers, a worldwide study of publicly traded transportation and logistics companies

Drayage to be test bed as OTR market remains out of EV reach.

Surge in low-sulfur fuel use by ships could usher in two to three year period of uncertainty in refining industry.

Growth in the US economy slowed slightly in the third quarter of the year, but remains strong headed into the end of 2018 and consumers and inventory building carried the load.

SONAR’s Headhaul Index map and the HAUL.JOT Index are both showing that the return to growth in inbound loaded container flow first seen in the Long Beach/LA port is continuing and gathering momentum.

Continuing efforts to fight what he says are unfair trade practices, the administration of President Donald Trump announced the U.S. will pull out of the Universal Postal Union (UPU) treaty, which sets how much can be charged for international shipping.