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Economics

Anthony Smith Sunday, January 5, 2020

Why is GDP not useful for looking at freight conditions in the economy?

The overall GDP number is not very useful when looking for insight into freight conditions in the economy. The U.S. economy is dominated by the service sector, which includes segments like healthcare, education and financial services. These areas make up over half of all of the economic activity in the U.S., but do not play a significant role in freight movements in the economy. As a result, as long as the service sector is healthy, the U.S. economy can continue to grow even if the production and transportation of goods is stalling.

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FreightWaves Staff Tuesday, August 20, 2019

White Paper – The New Economics of Freight Brokerage

The marketplace for truckload transportation is fragmented and opaque. Relationships between shippers and carriers are tenuous at best, forged and broken by wild swings in capacity availability and rates per mile. In this white paper, Transfix and FreightWaves define the problems distorting the marketplace for truckload transportation, discuss how carriers think about their assets, explain the role of technology in reducing empty miles, and sketch out the economic dynamics that come into play when the marketplace is optimized to free up capacity at the right price.

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FreightWaves Staff Wednesday, February 27, 2019

Exports tumble as the goods trade deficit widens

The U.S. trade deficit in goods widened to a record in December 2018 as a sizeable decline in goods exports was paired with a jump in goods imports. This reversed the decline in the deficit from the previous month, and the drop in goods exports sent yearly growth into negative territory for the first time in over two years.

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FreightWaves Staff Friday, December 21, 2018

Durable orders come up short in the latest troubling sign for manufacturing

Manufacturers’ new orders for durable goods posted a modest rebound in November, driven by a surge in aircraft orders. Orders excluding transportation fell for the second time in three months. This is the latest in a string of disappointing releases from manufacturing, raising some questions about the health of one of the key drivers of freight demand headed into next year.

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FreightWaves Staff Monday, October 1, 2018

October Economic Roundup

A roundup of economic data releases and events over the past month, and view of trends worth watching in October. Freight demand conditions remained generally solid during the month, though international trade and housing remain trouble areas. Supply within trucking looks to be expanding, and hires in the industry continued to climb

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