holiday season

Route-planning platform Circuit surveyed delivery drivers about their biggest pet peeves around the holidays.

Physical Stores Regain Ground Amid Broader Holiday Trend

Each year since the onset of the pandemic, peak season has looked a little different. What should retailers expect this year?

Uber gets in holiday spirit

Holiday retail sales to climb 6% to 8%, NRF says

Uber just rolled out several features ahead of the holidays, including a new Holiday Shop and an upgrade to Uber Connect.

Amazon has completed 5 million deliveries with Rivian’s custom electric delivery vans since the program launched in July.

According to research from PayPal, retailers and shoppers see eye to eye on returns more than you’d think.

About half of the positions will be added in the U.K., with 4,000 in the U.S

USPS Holiday preparations

Peak season is becoming more of a black box every year, and the U.S. Postal Service is buckling up.

Record holiday volume and rising costs are combining to create one heck of a cocktail for retail brands.

Logistics companies like C.H. Robinson are deploying employee to open certain containers and sort out time-sensitive items

The efforts it takes to ship the great Rockefeller Center Christmas tree; rail is the new hotness in shipping; and why we buy so many presents at Christmas.

Holiday shipping deadlines you need to know!

With all of the fuss around holiday sales, not much attention is being paid to holiday returns, which could cause an even bigger headache for retailers.

As Christmas grows closer, these are the dates you should know while contemplating when to ship your gifts.

B-Stock Solutions CEO Howard Rosenberg shares a sustainable avenue for retailers to get rid of overstock, late or unsold seasonal goods.

Black Friday used to be a welcome mat for the holidays. It was almost a holiday in itself, with families waking up early in the morning rife with excitement to join the gaggles of other holiday shoppers as they explored endless aisles of holiday gifts and goodies. But not anymore. Black Friday is no longer […]

Modern Shipper spoke with several supply chain executives to get their takes on what could be the most chaotic holiday season in recent memory.

With supply chain delays hitting retailers hard, Modern Shipper spoke with Kwontified CEO Elaine Kwon to figure out what that means for consumers.

“If I’m optimistic, you’re looking six months into the future” before congestion and capacity challenges start to subside, says Vespucci Maritime CEO Lars Jensen.

Seasonal hiring points to another big peak season

The holidays are closer than you think, and gifts aren’t getting any easier to come by.

National Tree CEO: Don’t wait till Black Friday to shop for holidays

Some large buy-now, pay-later providers are dropping fees for late payments, and they could be digging themselves into a hole.

The nationwide carrier knows that peak demand is on the horizon, and it’s in need of a bit of assistance.

Supply chain backups and pandemic-weary consumers mean that gifts are in short supply and high demand.

Walmart is filling positions across more than 250 transportation offices and distribution and fulfillment centers, at an average wage of $20.37 per hour.

Another nail in the coffin in the company’s relationship with its largest customers?

With the retail inventory-to-sales ratio still falling, U.S. importers are urged to move fast on their holiday import plans.

Anthony Smith and Zach Strickland lay out what it will take to loosen the stranglehold on America’s ports.

Despite losing momentum sequentially for the last three months of the year, holiday sales grew 8.3% year-over-year. The surprising data is further evidence of the resilience of the American consumer, and the ability for retailers to influence how and when people shop.

A Prologis and MIT study said the holiday peak season in 2020 was the most environmentally friendly yet. E-commerce dominated 2020 consumer buying trends, drastically reducing the number of individual trips to the store.

UPS cuts parcel-induction levies much deeper than FedEx, starting mid-January.

FedEx to cut prices from holiday levels on three surcharges.

With the holidays around the corner, here is an overview of UPS, USPS, FedEx and Amazon shipping deadlines for a delivery date of Dec. 25.

Freight forwarder guides customers through online shopping shift and transport capacity choke points.

Putting together a comprehensive and effective returns strategy should not be harrowing. While the number of variables, data points, and potential curve balls can seem daunting at first, the right level of expertise can make a world of difference.

The winter season witnesses a lot of truck crashes and injuries, making it essential for drivers and carriers to find ways to reduce risk while hauling during inclement weather.

In this week’s wrap-up, FreightWaves spoke to Larry Mullne of Allied Alloys in Houston to get insights into pre-holiday operations.

USMCA will cost automakers $3 billion in added tariffs; Chinese EV sales plunge; U.S. holiday season will see over $1 trillion in sales.

Markets from Los Angeles and Ontario to Yuma, Salt Lake City, and Minnesota have suddenly tightened as routing becomes directionally constrained.

Workplace injuries are common for truck drivers. For LTL drivers during peak holiday season, the rush to deliver goods increases the chance of injury.

Businesses will pay up to 14% more on logistics-related temporary jobs during the upcoming holiday season.

Deutsche Post DHL posts single-digit revenue, profit gains, lifts low end of full-year earnings view

November contracts from Los Angeles to Dallas traded at $2.103/mile as positive consumer confidence numbers were released.

Company expects double-digit operating profits this year for all three units.

In this episode, Chad Prevost talks with various members of the industry about what it takes to handle the large volume of holiday freight while still getting drivers home for the holiday.

Recent results show that retail activity continued to expand in November, in a sign that one of the key components of freight demand remains healthy at the end of the year. Results from the manufacturing sector were far less encouraging however, as activity stalled during the month.

Executives from Axle Logistics, Network Transport, Transfix, and Convoy weigh in on peak season 2018: higher volumes and less volatility than 2017 means that most brokers are sitting pretty.

Company waits unusually long time to announce 2019 rate hikes, gives shippers short time to comply.

Highest Thanksgiving week on-time delivery rates in 5 years.

A dicey delivery season looms.

With the Thanksgiving holiday approaching, drivers are spending less time on the road and more time at home. This is shrinking the availability of capacity in the market.

Retail activity posted the strongest gain in five months, as big gains in auto sales and rising gasoline prices helped to drive overall activity. Core spending grew at a more moderate pace, but the broad-based nature of the gains is encouraging headed into the holiday season.

UPS advised shippers to take LTL business elsewhere. They did.

The freight market remains slow in most parts of the country except for one. Will it spill into other regions?

Expeditors navigates around pricing pressure to post solid Q3 results.

Higher rates ahead for FedEx shippers.

Shipper executive takes UPS, Teamsters to task.

The freight market is showing the first signs of turning in over a month. Is this the start of retail season?

An advanced “BOSS’ fulfillment model is ready for the holidays.

Shell introduces ultrafast charging stations to Europe; UPS increases capacity at the wake of the holiday season; CMA CGM offers to buyout Ceva Logistics.

The freight market continues to stabilize, but there should be a little fuel left in the tank for one more seasonal push before the holidays.

For the first time ever Target will offer free, two-day shipping with no minimum purchase required this holiday season, in a bid to win shoppers over rivals like Walmart and Amazon.

Overall truckload volumes and spot rates are soft, but a huge wave of containers hit the West Coast in September, retail demand is strong, and additions to the national fleet of drivers have been marginal.

In Partnership with Arrive Logistics… we talk freight market data with executives from Arrive Logistics and ask them how they’re preparing to handle surging volumes in Q4 and beyond.

Retail activity eked out a meager gain for the second consecutive month, as a sharp decline in spending at restaurants weighed down the headline numbers. Retail conditions remain generally solid, however, as the sector looks poised for healthy growth to round out the year.

Indices are clearly signaling that the container volume coming in through the Long Beach/LA port is surging and bodes well for the holiday shopping season.

Parcel giant UPS announced today that it expects to hire about 100,000 seasonal employees to support the anticipated surge in package volume that will begin in November and continue through January 2019.