Less than Truckload (LTL)

Donald Broughton’s third article about the impact of the gross domestic product and how it can be useful for business intelligence and forecasting is a must-read.

All of the carriers on Transplace’s platform will integrate with Descartes MacroPoint by January 2020.

The Port of New Orleans has reopened after Tropical Storm Barry swept through the region, although officials still stress dangerous flooding conditions for area residents.

Hurricane Barry made landfall in Louisiana on July 13, and as it did, it caused disruption to travel and cargo movement in the region.

Cowan Systems has acquired family-owned regional carrier Carlisle Carrier as it looks to strengthen its Northeast presence.

Less than truckload carrier LME has suddenly closed its doors.

Although volumes are down across modes, rails don’t need top-line growth to improve cash flows.

U.K.-based Kontainers is releasing a new version of its freight booking software platform aimed at the small and mid-size enterprise market and priced per transaction. The software-as-a-service company said Kontainers Essentials, the third iteration of its ecommerce platform, enables smaller freight forwarders “to immediately compete with new digital first market forwarding entrants.” The five-year old […]

Commentary by Bill Driegert, Senior Director of Uber Freight, explores the current and near-future of on-demand freight.

Brian Aoaeh writes about changes that need to be made to the food supply chain to deter food waste and food loss.

YRC’s CEO hints at more changes to come after it announces closing of its New Penn HQ

The next steps in turning the heart of last year’s Dynamex court decision on independent contractors into the law of the land in California takes place this week in the state’s Senate.  And Joe Rajkovacz, the director of government affairs at the Western States Trucking Association (WSTA), is expressing confidence that changes in the proposed […]

Paul Tessy will oversee Canadian firm’s international segment as it looks to expand reach in the U.S.

New Penn Motor Express to close its Pennsylvania headquarters after 88 years.

This morning (July 8) Morgan Stanley’s transports equities analysts cut their 12-month price targets for most of the companies they cover, but said that following the release of second quarter earnings it may be time to invest in the cyclical stocks again. The analyst team, led by Ravi Shanker, expects second quarter results for transportation […]

FreightWaves’ Freight Intel Group has released a new study of the impact of IMO 2020 on the U.S. trucking industries (and other industries). Read what may happen to diesel fuel prices.

FedEx preaches patience and looking beyond FY2020’s results. It will be a tough sell.

Charley Dehoney has written about the growth of digital freight brokerages and what they bring to the market and the industry.

As freight conditions continue to deteriorate, along with tariffs imposed on a variety of goods and a prolonged U.S.-China trade war, some less-than-truckload carriers are closely examining their operational budget to remain competitive.

Brian Aoaeh has written a thought-provoking commentary on the impact of climate change on supply chains, and what governments, companies and startups can do to mitigate supply chain disruptions.

In March and April, Amazon handled 45 percent of its own packages.

ELDs and artificial intelligence have increased the number of opportunities for drivers by allowing for solutions that offer load matching and more.

Donald Broughton writes the second part of his look at the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and how transportation professionals can tweak GDP numbers to better understand and forecast the business environment they are competing in.

The American Trucking Associations will steer clear of the fight over longer-combination vehicles

The FreightWaves Freight Intel Group has released another study – this one on autonomous trucking. Read what they foresee for the trucking industry and drivers in the years ahead.

FedEx sues U.S. Department of Commerce claiming trade restrictions are difficult to meet and places additional burden on common carriers to ensure shippers comply.

Purchase, combination of 2 logistics firms broadens vendor consolidation, volume LTL footprint

The FreightWaves Intel Group surveyed over 800 carriers, shippers and brokers about the entry of Amazon into online freight brokerage. Read about the survey’s results and what respondents think Amazon will do to their businesses.

The FreightWaves Freight Intel Group is producing research culled from FreightWaves SONAR and other sources. Read about its first several research papers and how to learn more.

LTL giant claims new requirements would also add costs to its in-house driver training.

Small carrier profits are about to be pressured by a large government organization and it’s not the FMCSA, DOT, or CVSA.

Working with over 100 outside carriers and brokers, Walmart (NYSE: WMT) is likely to be a shipper of choice for many already. But even one of the U.S. freight industry’s largest customers realized it could do better for drivers. The Bentonville, Arkansas-based company came in third in a field of 135 shippers for theShipper of […]

Ten regional haul fleets will participate in NACFE’s Run on Less Regional challenge to measure fuel efficiency and other metrics in real-world operation.

Final-mile providers face surging headaches to go with surging demand for large-format shipments

FreightWaves Market Expert Anthony Smith writes about the issues impacting the U.S. housing market. As important as these issues are, they have a ripple effect on other areas of the U.S. economy, including trucking.

Incentive to get safety advocates, Congress on board

Walmart has exported its on-time, in-full requirement on the international marketplace. The results are improving but there is a lot of work to do.

YRC names T.J. O’Connor as COO; O’Connor to remainas head of YRC Freight

Driver hiring includes many steps to ensure compliance, and many fleets turn to outside help to assist in that process.

Volvo and Mack used trucks are now backed by factory warranties of up to 24 months and 250,000 miles for parts and labor on certain components.

Justin Hall has left the chief customer officer post at YRC almost 3 years to the day that he took the newly created job.

Class 8 truck orders posted their worst month since July 2016, according to ACT Research, barely topping 10,000 units in May. Class 5-7 medium-duty orders followed suit

Saia’s interim report also showed a slowdown in LTL activity.

Market expert writes about how current trade issues between the U.S. and China, the U.S. and Mexico and the U.S. and the EU may disrupt supply chains and cause economic problems.

The top-paying fleets continued to increase driver pay in the first quarter, with some now paying as much as 65 cents per mile in an effort to retain high-performing drivers.

Third-party logistics providers will see their growth dented by the threatened tariffs on Mexican imports. The question is by how much?

The supply chain has become a pawn in the battle over immigration, and freight businesses are the ones who will be hurt.

Simplicity is the key in managing increasingly complex final-mile operations. That and basic blocking and tackling

LTL carrier Averitt Express has opened a large international DC near Port of Savannah to manage increased volumes at the port

Inefficient warehouse operations lead to confusion, delays and added cost. By incorporating a TMS, shippers can gain better data and improve the end-to-end process of warehouse and shipping management.

C.H. Robinson (Nasdaq: CHRW) added to its European business with the acquisition of an Italian truck brokerage. The Eden Prairie, Minnesota-based company announced it bought Dema Service S.p.A. Dema Service is a privately owned logistics company providing road transportation services across Europe. Headquartered in Pescara, Italy, Dema Service has approximately 100 employees and three offices […]

Trucks without mirrors are entering the testing phase, but they could soon become a reality.

Old Dominion has made a commitment to donate up to $250,000 to the American Red Cross Disaster Relief fund.

UPS makes largest renewable natural gas buy in history with a 170 million gallon purchase

The three stocks get an upgrade not just on Cowen’s optimistic view of the market, but by how much their prices have been hit.

Saudi Arabia Customs successfully transported a container to the Port of Rotterdam using blockchain for the packing list and commercial documents.

Consumers are increasingly purchasing furniture and other large, bulky items online, forcing last-mile delivery providers to adapt.

In an ever-increasingly connected world, the ability of systems to speak to each other is critical. Fleet Complete’s CONNVEX solution is an example of an underlying system that helps that communication, including critically, between commercial vehicles and providers.

XPO shareholders reject Teamsters union proposal to split company’s chairman and CEO roles.

Amazon has broken ground on its Kentucky air hub, which will bring 2,000 jobs and up to 100 planes to the area.

Weather can cause significant delays to freight. FourKites is trying to help solve that by adding real-time management to its products.

Forward Air names Chris Ruble COO, Matthew Jewell chief commercial officer

Expedited carriers and brokers discuss the reasons for weakness in expedited spot markets.

Kuwait, Middle East-based logistics provider, Agility, generated consolidated revenues of 378.8 million Kuwaiti Dinar (US$1.25 billion) in the first quarter of 2019, the company reported today. That’s a 1.9 percent increase on the revenues generated in the first quarter of 2018.

YRC Worldwide (NASDAQ: YRCW) reported a $31.7 million consolidated operating loss on first quarter 2019 revenue of $1.182 billion. The loss widened from a year ago and revenue fell slightly, down from $1.215 billion in the first quarter of 2018. CEO Darren Hawkins placed the blame for the revenue decline on labor uncertainty and severe […]

YRC Worldwide (NASDAQ: YRCW) posted a $31.7 million consolidated operating loss on first-quarter revenue of $1.182 billion, which declined slightly from first-quarter 2018 revenues of $1.215 billion. In first quarter 2019, net loss was $49.1 million compared to a net loss of $14.6 million in first quarter 2018. Zacks Consensus estimate was for an earnings per share (EPS) loss […]

Getting better use from your logistics assets, whether it be drivers, trucks, trailers, or general staff, is a major theme of Transparency19. And the Rapid-Fire Demonstrations on the second day of the event illustrated the many ways up-and-coming companies are doing just that. Emerge Tech Grant Crawford, Chief Executive Officer of Emerge Tech, said the […]

Convey, the six-year-old company trying to reinvent supply chains, has announced a partnership with MercuryGate that it said will improve the last-mile delivery experience for shippers and end customers. Convey’s Delivery Experience Management (DEM) software will be integrated into MercuryGate’s transportation management system (TMS) to provide an end-to-end experience for users seeking to launch DEM […]

XPO Logistics, Inc. (NYSE:XPO) was prepping late last year for a massive acquisition, one that Chairman and CEO Brad Jacobs said Tuesday would have effectively doubled XPO’s $17 billion a year size “in short order,” before it shifted gears and launched a sizable stock repurchase plan in a bid to capitalize on the equity’s low […]

TravelCenters of America announced higher fuel volumes and revenue, but one-time charges led to a quarterly loss.

Transplace has announced the appointment of Matthew Harding as senior vice president of data science. Harding, who rejoins Transplace after a nine-plus year stay at Chainalytics, will lead the company’s data insights and analytics team. “Matthew brings extensive experience in transportation and logistics and deep expertise in utilizing market intelligence to deliver meaningful results,” said […]

The two leading shareholder advisory firms have said they will support an International Brotherhood of Teamsters proposal to separate the chairman and CEO positions at XPO Logistics, Inc. (NYSE:XPO) and appoint an independent director as chair. If that happens, it could eliminate the dual role now performed by Brad Jacobs, the company’s founder. Glass Lewis […]

Rank-and-file approve by 60-40 margin.

Company behind rivals in its pricing position, Jacobs says

Convoy has worked closely with shippers on various projects, including its Convoy Go program that gives owner-operators access to drop-and-hook freight. It has now formalized those efforts in the Innovation Lab.

Good execution has CEO Jacobs in ebullient mood.

Eaton, maker of electrical systems and powertrain components posted record revenue in the first quarter.

Bottom line comes in light. Investors wary to unimpressed.

Recent shipping trends reflect a slowdown in user demand across the air, rail, maritime and truckload modes of transport. Those trends seem to have passed by the $42 billion per year less-than-truckload (LTL) segment. Carriers have been in control of the market for two years, demand remains solid, and pricing is disciplined and rational. There […]

Three states and several utilities will study the needs of electric trucks along the I-5 corridor to make long-haul electric trucks a reality. Plus, the future of Cummins, flex fuels, and are the Chinese taking our railway jobs?

Company accelerates re-purchases as it had planned.

Fleets are rapidly deploying video solutions, finally convinced of their benefits, and Trimble is one of the companies benefiting from this.

Nikola Motor Company founder & CEO Trevor Milton admits that he is smart enough to know that there are smarter people than him in the world, and he wanted to leverage that expertise when building his new truck. Enter the industry’s top suppliers.

Nikola Motor introduced its hydrogen-electric truck to the world, and it has a few big supporters, including Anheuser-Busch.

Coretex supplies fleet management solutions. Known for its refrigerated trailing monitoring capabilities, the company has recently expanded more into the cab with a new ELD and other services.

Nikola Motor Company formally introduced its hydrogen-electric tractors, the Nikola Two and Nikola Tre (for Europe) at Nikola World 2019. Here are some photos from the event.

Nel Hydrogen and Nikola Motor are working together to ensure that as Nikola begins deployment of its hydrogen-electric trucks, there is hydrogen fueling stations in place to support them.

The founding of Nikola Motor Company did not happen overnight; it actually dates back to a time when a six-year-old boy was bothering his railroad-working father and was sent to see a train engineer.

If you can get your hands on a Nikola Two hydrogen-electric truck in the near future, it could save you money compared to a diesel model, the company said. Getting one, though, will be hard due to early demand.

Nikola Motor envisions a world that is better off tomorrow than it is today, and it starts with a zero-emission future, the company said, as it introduced five emissions-free vehicles, including two semi trucks.

As workers decide their fate, management works to wean itself off high-volume business.

Bolt System has introduced a new driver app that is designed to streamline paperwork processes and improve the overall driver experience.

After 20 years, Lytx has found itself evolving much in the same way that fleets and society at large have. Founded in 1998 as DriveCam, the company has transitioned into a data business providing insights unthinkable just a few years ago.

Four drivers were inducted into the National Private Truck Council’s Driver Hall of Fame on Monday and the organization also recognized the nation’s safest private fleet operations in a ceremony.

The increase comes after a first quarter update that was strong on the pricing side but a little weaker on the tonnage picture.

Ancra has introduced automated decking, which adjusts itself up and down the trailer based on keypad inputs from the user, eliminating the need to manually adjust support beams.

Providers are in the process of shutting down older 3G cellular networks, and that means the fleets running equipment on these networks could see disruptions.

No pension hikes in the cards under the agreement.

The fluctuating price of fuel makes it difficult for carriers and shippers to know the exact cost to move freight. Genesis Fuel is offering a way to pre-buy diesel at a set price, adding certainty to the cost for both parties.

E-commerce has changed consumer buying habits, but it has also changed the supply chain for less-than-truckload carriers, who have had to adapt in various ways to keep pace.