Consumer spending

Consumer spending and exports played a much bigger role.

Retail sales are forecast to total as much as $5.48 trillion in 2025, according to a new forecast by the National Retail Federation.

The latest data from WarehouseQuote indicates retailers have ho-hum expectations for the holiday season.

Companies expecting a near-term demand recovery might be well served to read Visa’s Q1 earnings call transcript.

Executive Director Mario Cordero says the Port of Long Beach is “ready for a rebound in retail.”

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Driver training schools are seeing an influx of those interested in joining the trucking industry. 

Consulting firm FTR Associates says the freight transportation markets will find support amid a still-growing manufacturing sector, despite perceived softness in the U.S. economy.

Loaded and Rolling: Holiday impact on trucking; CA AB5 law goes into effect; Inflation headwinds batter consumer spending in May

Capacity crunch: Competition for carriers brings rising costs, new opportunities Continued freight demand and limited truckload supply are allowing trucking companies to be selective with which loads to take, causing greater competition among shippers. Customer characteristics are playing a key role in contract and spot rate negotiations with carriers reevaluating their customer mix based on […]

Dedicated trucking becomes more committed, truck parking capacity crunch, consumer spending sky high

COVID-19 Pandemic drops 2020 household spending on transportation by nearly 14%

On this episode of The Stockout,Mike Baudendistel checks out how some consumer goods companies are using technology to their advantage.

A return to typical consumer spending drives conventional freight market conditions but the process of returning to normal has been anything but conventional.

We have a new winner in the ocean shipping game of “How High Can Rates Go?” — about 15 times higher than before the COVID crisis.

Affirm Holdings, which specializes in “buy now, pay later” solutions, has acquired leading e-commerce returns provider Returnly.

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.

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.

This is an excerpt from Monday’s (3/29) Point of Sale retail supply chain newsletter sponsored by ArcBest. Yee-HAW, people. The third round of fiscal stimulus is causing an immediate and significant boost to the consumer economy. Due to the sharp contraction in spending this time last year from COVID-related lockdowns, the one-year change is distorted and not as […]