One of the results of the 2017-18 freight market boom was an increase in the cost of operating that held over into a slower 2019 when capacity became abundant. Costs are on the rise once again as carriers struggle to find drivers to capture market share.
Consumer spending tapered off this week, but the savings rate is so high, Americans have a war chest unlike in any recent period. And, inventories remain depleted across many segments, so the freight industry won’t feel the direct brunt of any shift back to services anytime soon.
On this episode of Freightonomics, Anthony Smith and Zach Strickland look at some big decisions affecting Amazon workers and how much cash Evergreen will be coughing up.
Imports have fueled the domestic freight economy over the past year. That growth continues out of the traditional peak season with shippers booking maritime capacity in April. Could this translate to a record summer for trucking?
The market takes a breather this week with tenders down 7% week-over-week.
On this episode of Freightonomics, Anthony Smith and Zach Strickland dive into the state of the intermodal freight world.
The relationship between personal consumption and trucking demand has strengthened even further as companies struggle to maintain inventory. This suggests a very active spring and summer for transportation providers.
Service-based spending categories like airlines, lodging and restaurants all were positively impacted by the stimulus, but the top 5 biggest growth segments came in goods. With the roaring consumer economy, blossoming industrial recovery, white-hot housing market and historically depleted inventories, there’s very little outside of severe inflation that could derail this trucking market.
On this episode of Freightonomics, Anthony Smith and Zach Strickland look at the broad and narrow economic impacts of the Suez Canal blockage.
Transportation rates continue to climb while service is at an all-time low. Shippers will have to be aggressive in devising new strategies to keep costs under control.
The stimulus is providing a huge boost to Americans, who by and large, still remain unable to spend on big-ticket services like concerts, sporting events or amusement parks. The recent stimulus has created the strongest spending gains in furniture, online electronics and clothing.
Import volumes are growing rapidly into secondary ports as shippers scramble to build inventory. What are some of the short- and long-term implications to domestic transportation providers?
If you look at the weekly Outbound Tender Volume Index (OTVI) map, you might think freight markets have reversed course and are retreating significantly. But this line of thinking is misguided. Tender volumes are coming down, but off an unnaturally high base. Volumes in most major markets remain above pre-storm levels.
On this episode of Freightonomics, Anthony Smith and Zach Strickland discuss whether inflation could pose a threat to a recovering U.S. economy.
Lane Acuity Plus is a new addition to SONAR SCI, making it even more useful to shippers.
Advancements in tender data science and paid market data now power SONAR SCI (Supply Chain Intelligence) Lane Acuity. SONAR Lane Acuity provides lane-level insight into market stability and rate benchmarking. What is it? Lane Acuity allows users to compare their contract rates to their peers as well as market through cohort benchmarking. That promotes a […]
Intermodal shipping is dominated by the largest shippers in the U.S. and operates on a more static network, which gains higher cost efficiency than trucking over longer-mileage runs.
The freight markets have reentered “chaos is business as usual” territory. All the major indices have been eerily calm since the winter storm disruption. Yearly comps are becoming more difficult given the panic buying that shot volumes and rejections up this time last year. Don’t let the weakening comps distract you, this market can’t get much better.
The intermodal contract saving indices (IMCSI) show the percent savings of shipping via intermodal versus dry van truckload contract rates. To ensure comparability across modes, the calculation only compares truckload and intermodal rates in identical origin-destination pairs. The IMCSI tickers are an aggregation of individual lanes. On “This week in SONAR,” Craig Fuller, FreightWaves CEO, […]
Reefer capacity has tightened to all-time levels, pushing spot rates for produce moves to seasonal peaks ahead of schedule.
