capacity crunch

The U.S. trucking industry continues to face a harsh economic reality: spot rates have failed to keep pace with inflation, squeezing carrier margins and contributing to significant financial pressure on truckers nationwide. Here’s a clear visual of the disconnect — spot trucking rates (via the SONAR National Truckload Index) overlaid against the Consumer Price Index […]

New immigration restrictions could curb driver availability, trigger a massive capacity crunch, and pull the trucking industry out of The Great Freight Recession. The Trump administration’s English Language Proficiency (ELP) mandate, effective June 2025, is already limiting the 3.5 million driver pool, particularly impacting immigrants, who according to the BLS account for at least 20% […]

After a couple of oddball years, shippers and carriers alike are anxious to see how the market rebalances — or doesn’t — after the new year.

The traditional peak shipping season for air cargo is turning into super peak and a microcosm of the ocean shipping chaos. Turbulence ahead.

Craig Fuller explains why supply chains are so messed up!

With capacity tight across the board, difficulty in sourcing reefer trailers may spill into other segments as produce season continues.

Companies that resist technological innovation or refuse to audit their current systems at this point may be risking more than just favorable rates; they may be risking the viability of their business.

“For midsize transportation suppliers, their viability depends on their procurement process,” says Keelvar founder and CEO Alan Holland.

ArcBest’s Danny Loe, head of asset-light logistics and chief yield officer, joins George Abernathy, president of FreightWaves, to chat about the new normal for procuring capacity during the 3PL Summit.

There’s no time for deliberation these days if you want to get high-value cargo shipped by air. It’s a strong seller’s market in the air cargo world. If you see it, book it and don’t worry about the price.

“Driver detention is a leading cause of lost earnings and driver dissatisfaction,” said Elkins.

Top 10 lists dominate the end of any year. FreightWaves’ Top 10 stories list is voted on throughout the year by readers simply by reading our stories on www.freightwaves.com. Here are the stories you read the most in 2020.

Seeking out capacity the old way—countless phone calls, spreadsheets, undocumented tribal knowledge, physical maps and word of mouth while scouring multiple carrier portals and load boards with stale or unverified data⎯ is chronically inefficient.

Early signs about the end of tight capacity begin to surface.

In today’s edition of The Daily Dash, ArcBest is the latest LTL carrier to report a strong start to Q4. Plus, 2020 supply chain trends are likely to continue into 2021, and Trevor Milton has begun to sell shares in Nikola Corp.

Heavy snow coming to Denver freight market could tighten capacity a bit more.

Database of test results seen as rate booster while unseated trucks pose risk to operations.

This Week’s DHL Supply Chain/FreightWaves Pricing Power Index: 30 (Shippers) Last Week’s DHL Supply Chain/FreightWaves Pricing Power Index: 30 (Shippers) Three-Month DHL Supply Chain/FreightWaves Pricing Power Index Outlook: 50 (Balanced) The trucking industry operates in a market based on real-time demand and supply. When demand is higher than capacity, carriers gain negotiating power for rates. […]

Access to data has improved market transparency, and recent spikes in volatility make the case that transportation costs must be hedged and de-risked.

If driver wages are eliminated, total cost of ownership will fall. But capacity will saturate the market and rates will crash. In the end, trucking will still be a capital-intensive and low-margin industry.

Retention, training, and the capacity crunch are undeniably hot button issues in 2018. In response, SmartDrive and FreightWaves collaborated to distribute a survey to uncover trends in driver incentive programs. The white paper—based on the findings of the survey, which was fielded in Q3 2018—reveals the steps that trucking companies are taking in order to hire and retain qualified drivers and create safer, more profitable organizations.

An unprecedented capacity crunch. Archaic processes badly in need of reinvention. New Uber-like technology entrants bent on cutting out the broker. How do brokers respond, transform and emerge on the other side as stronger competitive forces?

Truck tonnage rose for the second consecutive month in May, as improving economic conditions and gains in hiring have helped trucking performance.

The current capacity crunch has been a significant issue in the trucking industry since last year. Many things will need to change in order to resolve the squeeze, but discussions throughout Transparency18 highlighted technology’s role.

Trucking’s persistent parking problem is only getting worse. What’s being done to help solve the issue?

Data from the Institute of Supply Management shows that manufacturing activity lost some momentum in April, as the current capacity crunch and recent tariffs have impacted production flows

Everyone’s interested in who is a shipper of choice, and if they’re not they want to know how they can become one.

Truck tonnage fell for the second consecutive month despite generally solid economic conditions. Responses from survey data suggests that the freight is out there, but capacity is preventing tonnage growth

Responses from the Federal Reserve’s Beige Book on regional economic conditions show that recent tariffs and capacity issues in freight are starting to pressure businesses.

“A number of factors, including the steep decline in First-Class Mail volume, coupled with legal mandates that compel the U.S.P.S. to incur substantial and inflexible costs, have resulted in a structural deficit,” Trump said.

Job growth has improved since the start of the year in the trucking industry. While this is strong step in address the driver shortage, the industry will soon find itself having to compete long-term with other industries desperately searching for skilled labor.

As capacity has tightened for trucks, the effects have been felt across the industry.

“We are seeing what you are feeling,” says DAT data analytics consultant, Alex Perry.