Christopher Thornycroft, executive vice president at Redwood, joined us to talk about the Lunar New Year and what it means for freight demand. For those unaware, the Chinese Lunar New Year holiday began Jan. 22 and typically lasts two weeks. This year, it will end with the Lantern Festival on Sunday.

A report published Wednesday by Morgan Stanley Research highlights demand expectations and how carriers and brokers are hungry for freight.

Josh Smith, vice president at Variant and over-the-road operations at U.S. Xpress, spoke to FreightWaves about the Variant program and how technology and operations are vital to success in trucking.

On Tuesday, FreightWaves interviewed Werner Chief Information Officer Daragh Mahon about the company’s recent partnership with Samsara, diving into how AI and updated legacy systems are transforming Werner’s 8,500-truck fleet. 

A Republican-backed bill introduced by U.S. Rep Brian Mast, R-Fla., seeks to exempt underage truck drivers from rules that prohibit them from hauling containers to and from marine terminals.

Wabash and J.B. Hunt Transport have signed a multiyear deal that will supply J.B. Hunt with 15,000 trailers. The size and scope of the pact are significant, as the past two years saw pandemic-related supply chain disruptions throttle up new trailer orders, causing the average age of existing trailers to rise.

On Tuesday, FreightWaves interviewed Josh Bouk, president of Trax Technologies, about the recent Securities and Exchange Commission rule-making recommendation back in March 2022 regarding scope 3 emissions. Scope 3 is a part of a larger greenhouse gas emissions overhaul by the SEC, the intent being for companies to disclose their impact on the environment.

Bob Biesterfeld, president and CEO of C.H. Robinson Worldwide Inc., stepped down Tuesday. FreightWaves’ Mark Solomon wrote that according to a person familiar with the matter, this departure had been planned months in advance and mostly was a matter of timing. 

Persistently higher inventory levels are causing a drag on truckload tender volumes as 2023 begins. 2019 and 2018 SONAR data indicates we may approach levels of pre-pandemic seasonality, but higher truckload capacity will continue to negatively impact rates until enough truckload supply leaves the market.

Outbound tender rejection rates, a measure of the percentage of truckload shipments tendered to carriers by shippers, have reached a record at 5.05%. For trucking, this will be a cause of mostly stress instead of celebration.