Import volumes are showing the first signs of recovery since the initial decline in early February.

Anthony and Zach bring in former fund manager Seth Holm to discuss how the volatile equities markets can hit the world of transportation and trucking.

Chart of the Week:  Outbound Tender Volume Index – USA  SONAR: OTVI.USA  People have been clearing store shelves in parts of the country as if they were preparing for a zombie apocalypse this past week. This mass purchasing—or threat thereof—has spiked trucking volumes in the U.S. as the national Outbound Tender Volume Index (OTVI) increased […]

Zach and Anthony talk about the latest coronavirus developments on transportation, the main functions of a freight forwarder and recent economic developments.

Anthony and Zach explain the primary cost drivers of operating a trucking company and the market influences that drive the pricing volatility on both contracted and transactional freight movements. Also, an update on the coronavirus situation and what we are seeing in the economy today that may affect your life tomorrow.

Not only were volumes lower in 2019, but they traveled less miles, which compounded the impact of oversupply. Volumes have not recovered, but something else has changed that may help carriers this year.

Spot freight may only account for 10-20% of total freight moved in the U.S., but its activity paints the picture of the entire freight market. Tom Mallon joins to discuss the direction of rates in 2020. Also; Coronavirus update along with the current state of the market as well as recent economic releases.

Diesel costs were supposed to make 2020 more difficult for struggling carriers, but wholesale fuel prices have fallen rapidly, which should help carriers in the slow season.

Anthony and Zach, along with special guest Donny Gilbert, take a deeper dive into the freight market trailer pool and discuss the types of freight they haul, their characteristics, and their place in the broader market. Additional topics include another California regulation, coronavirus, and the surprising jump in the PMI.

The coronavirus is having a far-reaching impact across the globe. The timing may make things worse for domestic trucking.

Anthony and Zach break down the less-than-truckload sector and talk about its connection with truckload along with giving a quick update on the latest economic and freight market trends.

Reefer volumes have broken out this winter as dry van demand fades. Does this mean the sector is in for a strong recovery in 2020?

Anthony, Zach, and special guest Kyle Lintner from K-Ratio discuss how the freight market is disconnected from the general economy; are we truly out of a freight recession; and how Freight Futures work.

New fleet growth is slowing while used truck prices collapse. Is this the first sign of contracting trucking capacity?

Zach and Anthony discuss the characteristics of the California freight market, the unintended consequences from regulations and the economic impacts from them.

California’s AB5 has caused significant disruption prior to the planned enforcement period. Has there been a measurable impact to the supply of carriers in the state?

Zach and Anthony discuss why January is so difficult to manage and why this one may be different for trucking; FMCSA and AB5 hangups; and give a economic and market update as well as projections.

Market Expert Zach Strickland provides timely advice for shippers that need to choose either a carrier or a 3PL.

Insurance premiums are a growing concern in the trucking industry, even as statistics show reduced incidents. What is driving the soaring insurance costs?

Lead times fell throughout 2019 as shippers became accustomed to excessive capacity.

The truckload sector has had a breakout December thanks to a booming holiday peak. Is this a signal of a long-term shift to the over-supplied freight market?

Anthony and Zach discuss what will trim the fat in the oversupplied trucking market as well as talk about why Intermodal has not materialized as the savior of the rail volumes with Mike Baudendistel.

Chart of the Week: 3-Year-Old Used Truck Prices – USA, Cass Freight Shipments Index – USA SONAR: UT3.USA, CFIS.USA At this point the news and story of Celadon, the largest truckload failure in history has been covered extensively in the media. The 3,000+ trucking company was by far the largest to shut down in what has been […]

Anthony and Zach discuss the recent Celadon shutdown and how it lines up with current freight market conditions; a disappointing manufacturing sector; consumers appear to be on another spending spree funded by debt.

The rise of e-commerce has increased the amount of low mileage freight, but that comes at an unexpected cost to shippers.

West Coast freight volumes have been robust in 2019, but empty rail containers signal that the balance is shifting east heading into 2020.

The housing and construction sectors are showing signs of life, giving truckers a rare hint of optimism for the coming months.

Reefer demand jumps in contrast to the general freight market, despite much colder temps across the U.S.

Freight volumes fell off a cliff at the end of October. Is this yet another reason for concern that the market may slow even further?

The rails managed to increase rates while trucking rates continued to compress in October.

Reefer volumes have declined in 2019 as shippers have taken advantage of cheap van rates, but declining production and trade wars have hurt the cause as well.

Retail is expected to be the great savior of the 4th quarter economy. Hopefully retaill shipment volumes are not an indication of things to come.

Freight volumes took a nosedive to this past week, which led to the biggest difference in annual freight volumes this year.

A popular manufacturing index is signalling a rough ride for trucking after the holiday season.

Trucking volumes are up YoY, while rail intermodal volumes have fallen. Now may be the time for long time competitors to explore new partnerships.

Two big events hit trucking like a hammer this week. What are the long run implications?

Smaller carriers are snatching up the big carrier’s excess truck supply, even in a softer year. The reason is not obvious.

Carriers are having less trouble keeping their drivers busy over the past month, but that has not quite translated to increased prices.

2019 has been more challenging for trucking companies than any other non-recession year. Here is why.

FreightWaves releases several new datasets and improves on existing ones in this week’s SONAR release.

After a disappointing first half of 2019, the freight market finally appears to be heading another direction.

The trade war with China has altered international shipping patterns, which has started to shift freight volumes to the East Coast.

The price of diesel fuel has an obvious impact on transportation providers costs, but it also can give insight into demand for their services.

Carbon emissions are now available in SONAR on a state level.

California’s produce shipments can wreak havoc on trucking capacity in the spring. This year’s season was s shell of the previous two.

The volatile 2018 freight market is still being felt throughout the nations trucking industry. The freight futures settlement

Diesel prices jumped in the Midwest this month due to a significant tax increase. Small carriers will have to adjust to keep costs down and maintain business.

Durable goods and dry van orders are declining. Could this mean a rough second half of 2019?

Spot rates have fallen back to where they were two years ago. The problem for carriers; their costs have not.

Freight volumes may have peaked for the season, but it certainly doesn’t feel that way. There is still a lot of uncertainty for Q3 as we close a disappointing Q2.

Michael Lewis wrote “Moneyball” about the tactics Billy Beane used to improve the Oakland A’s. Read Zach Strickland’s take on using moneyball tactics in the freight market.

Reefer carriers are weathering the cooling freight market more efficiently than two of the main trailer types. An interesting data point supports this claim.

The demand for temperature controlled equipment is keeping the freight market active for reefer carriers and produce haulers, but general volumes continue to slide off 2018 highs.

International shipping has become one of the largest drivers of domestic shipping volumes in the United States over the past several years. Knowing when and where container volumes are moving can be a leading indicator of when domestic shipping volumes are going to create disruptions in the U.S. freight market. FreightWaves continues to add more […]

FreightWaves’ SONAR chart of the week (June 9, 2019 – June 15, 2019) Chart of the Week: Wait Time (El Paso, Laredo) (SONAR: WAIT.ELP, WAIT.LRD) International trade has been a going concern for any involved in supply chain management over the past year as the current administration continues to impose tariffs on many goods entering […]

The last month has been like Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride for the freight market. Starting with the Trump tweet about increasing tariffs on Chinese goods another 15% in early May that caused a chasm to form in freight volumes, and now Roadcheck week keeping carriers off the roads as volumes surge coming out of the […]

Last year, carriers avoided hotspots for vehicle inspections during CVSA’s Roadcheck week. Now the market has turned, so has their attitude about these areas.

Capacity normally tightens into the holiday weekend, but this Memorial Day is nothing like the previous years.

Volumes took a nosedive after the tariffs increased and are starting to recover slightly, but the damage may already be done.

The trade war between China and the U.S. is having a noticeable impact on freight markets. Shippers and carriers are struggling to adapt.

Freight volumes should be increasing heading towards Memorial Day weekend, but they are headed the other direction as shippers take a pause over tariff concerns.

Freight volumes continue to increase steadily with no real implications to rates yet. Mother’s Day flower season hits Miami.

The relationship between truckload and less-than-truckload (LTL) is like two cities positioned around the epicenter of an earthquake.

FreightWaves continues to push more features and data into its data analytics platform with 8 new features and 3 data sets.

Freight volumes recover from Easter lull as volumes are flat from a year-over-year perspective. Comparing load volumes is not the whole story, however.

National freight volumes took a nosedive this week as Easter had a decent impact on the freight market, but how much of the drop is related to the holiday?

Volumes are flat year-over-year, and after a brief period of disruption the freight market has stabilized. Container volumes that have fueled the port cities freight, may be due to soften in the coming months.

National spot market price movement has a surprisingly tight relationship with new truck orders.

Capacity is still being added to the market. Truck orders numbers for both new and used models support this.

Market volumes remain strong from a year-over-year perspective, driven by the continued strength of the West. What does this imbalance mean for the freight market as the busy season approaches?

Specialty retail and electronics retail stores are the least efficient loading and unloading docks for carriers according to FreightWaves latest index.

L.A. volumes are propping up national freight volume but starting to fade. Are there any signs of another region emerging to take over for the West Coast?

After a period of attempting to improve detention times with carriers, they appear to be falling into the old habits of making load/unload times are lower priority according to FreightWaves’ Detention Minutes Index.

National freight volumes pulled back a bit this week after a strong start to March. Not all areas of the country are having the same experience.

Los Angeles has had the heaviest freight volumes in the U.S. for the past several months, but carriers should be paying attention to where that freight is headed.

Volumes have jumped to seasonal levels, but capacity has not been significantly impacted yet. Will March volumes change freight market conditions?

National freight volumes are flat year-over-year, but capacity is as loose as ever. What is driving the discrepancy?

Market volumes have increased significantly over the past several days, bringing national levels to those similar to early March of 2018 when the market was thought to be more active. The data tells us one aggregate value cannot tell the whole story.

Increasing spot rates lead carrier revenues in 2018, will revenues start to fall now that rates have started to come down again?

The overall market remains relatively stable as volume dip below 2018 levels in two major markets. Spring is around the corner. Will freight volumes return with it?

National spot rates have been flying high for the past year, but have only recently fallen under previous year values as illustrated on FreightWaves newest charting feature.

So far this February has been what we would expect. Does the normally slow month have any surprises up its sleeves?

Atlanta to Philadelphia’s spot rate has hit its lowest point in 3 years. The absolute rates may be similar, but the freight markets could not be further apart.

Volumes and capacity remain flat through the first week of February. Has the freight market weathered the slowest part of the year?

The two Super Bowl teams and their fanbases are very different, just like their freight market identities.

Freight volumes recover as January closes. The artic air freezes the Midwest as the Chicago market heats up.

The DOE fuel price keeps sliding as wholesale or rack prices are increasing. This can have a negative impact to carrier margins in early 2019 after receiving the benefit of expanding fuel spreads in late 2018. SONAR’s newest index can help you monitor this.

Last week had the largest single day percentage drop in volume since March of 2018. Capacity remained stable as we ride out the winter doldrums.

How can air cargo and dry van spot market rates be related? Could the movement of these two seemingly unrelated rates provide more evidence the market is slowing?

Capacity is abundant even though volume is relatively strong. Carriers are having little trouble covering the available freight making it a shippers’ paradise in mid-January.

The falling Purchasing Managers Index tends to be correlated with the general freight market, the Cass Freight Shipment Index illustrates this. Is it time for carriers to pull back?

The New Year has started off with a surprising amount of volume in the freight market. So far, capacity has been available to handle it. The tariff deadline extension may be providing a second wind.

Record intermodal shipments on the rail for the second year in a row has deep implication for the trucking market into 2019. Trucking will benefit, at least partially, from Norfolk Southern’s latest decision.

Carriers lower rates heading to the West Coast this year as inbound container volumes flood the ports.

Carrier operating ratios continue to fall in October with a less volatile freight market.

The freight market has softened significantly in the last few months, but it is not due to a drastic reduction in volume.

Volume continues to slide but there was little change in the market over the past seven days.

The big oil news of the week was OPEC deciding to cut production in an attempt to stop the price of oil from dropping further. Carriers should be happy with this in the long run but gained a short term boost to margins in the meantime.

Capacity is readily available in most regions of the country. Los Angeles has finally cooled off as the tariff deadline gets extended.

The spot market has been cooling over the past several months, but the players seem more uncertain than ever.