intermodal

Union Pacific opens lanes, while Norfolk Southern talks lane opportunities to take market share from trucks.

Schneider National’s fourth quarter suffered from a “muted peak season” and softer rates. However, the carrier’s 2020 outlook calls for improving fundamentals.

Robinson aggressively cut prices to hold truckload volumes steady and grow LTL volumes.

Quarantines and factory shutdowns could deepen and extend the traditional Chinese New Year trough.

J.B. Hunt’s fourth quarter call addresses some challenges facing its brokerage and intermodal businesses.

J.B. Hunt reports lower-than-expected earnings in the fourth quarter as weaker market conditions and increased investment weigh on results.

Dupré Logistics and HOYER form bulk transport entity to provide supply chain services domestically and internationally.

Rail intermodal is the transportation method of moving freight on the earth’s surface by two modes, by railroad and also by truck. The freight can be carried in either trailers or containers; containers has become the larger and faster-growing category. The freight is moved on a railroad during the long-haul portion of the move with local trucking (known as drayage) taking the trailer or container to its final destination.

Market Expert Michael Baudendistel writes about rail intermodal volume is lower for the long-term, or can it be more competitive with trucking.

Cass freight data shows softness again in November. While shipment declines extend to a full year, the rate of the declines may be moderating.

Anthony and Zach discuss what will trim the fat in the oversupplied trucking market as well as talk about why Intermodal has not materialized as the savior of the rail volumes with Mike Baudendistel.

Vice president of operations explains what keeps PTI at the industry forefront.

President and chief operating officer, Michael Gettle, who assisted in the corporate restructuring is leaving the company.

Jim Blaze writes about the decline in rail freight; is it a recent event, or has it been taking place over a longer period?

Jim Blaze writes about the power and influence of mentors on a person’s career and life.

Jim Blaze writes about the Alameda Corridor in Los Angeles, that takes some of the freight from the harbor to distribution centers. Is it still economically viable?

The latest Cass outlook signals “economic contraction,” but the heads at some of the nation’s largest truckload carriers see a different path.

CHICAGO – The technology transformation that’s underway in freight transportation is badly needed to eliminate billions of dollars in annual waste and improve service for shippers and carriers of all sizes, in the same way that consumers have been empowered by shopping online, Shelley Simpson, chief commercial officer at intermodal transportation provider J.B. Hunt, said […]

Hunt thinks that an additional 7 to 11 million loads per year could shift from the highway to intermodal.

Mark Rourke, CEO of Schneider National, right, told George Abernathy, president of FreightWaves, that a series of regulations hitting the industry will affect expenses or cut capacity, during his time on stage at FreightWaves LIVE Chicago.

For anyone in and around the Corn Belt in 2019, the lasting effects of this spring’s flooding are still front and center in everyone’s mind. The economy has been impacted as two of the area’s largest industries have been hit the hardest – agriculture and transportation.   Farming and freight are indelibly tied in this part […]

Roadrunner continues to restructure its operations by shuttering another unit. The company announced that it was selling its intermodal operations to Universal Logistics.

The rails managed to increase rates while trucking rates continued to compress in October.

With the bulk of its final mile business shuttered and its tractor fleet right-sized, management believes that the company is on solid footing to see improvement in 2020.

While Hub Group reported a
good quarter, its near-term outlook is pretty rough. In short, Hub Group doesn’t see a peak season coming in 2019.

New features have been added to FreightWaves SONAR. Learn about them here!

J.B. Hunt Transport Services reports earnings light of expectations, but cost headwinds from digital platform transformation appear to be the primary culprits.

Knight-Swift Transportation lowered its third and fourth quarter 2019 guidance amid intermodal and truckload woes. However, some analysts find this as a reason to celebrate.

Market Voice Darren Prokop writes about automation at ports and the progress – and disruption – that will bring.

Freight shipments and expenditures declined on a year-over-year basis again in September according to the latest Cass Freight Index Report. The firm now believes that the index is “signaling an economic contraction.”

Carloads on the railroads remained under water in the first week of the fourth quarter 2019. Intermodal weakness will be in the spotlight as third quarter earnings season approaches.

Trucks are competitively priced on East Coast lanes and offer better service than the railroads.

Unionized Canadian drivers for CNTL approve four-year agreement that increases rates for wait times and mileage.

The company is following through on a pledge to acquire 1,000 branded intermodal containers by the end of 2020.

Trucking volumes are up YoY, while rail intermodal volumes have fallen. Now may be the time for long time competitors to explore new partnerships.

The outlook for intermodal freight transportation and what’s going on with driver cash flow and factoring issues will be two of the key topics of discussion on the September 28-29 edition of FreightWaves Radio. Rick LaGore, the CEO of Intek Freight and Logistics, will join us to talk about where his company sits in the […]

Universal Logistics reported that it has agreed to a $36 million settlement for an accident that involved a “marginal driver.”

The Canadian class I railroads outlined a number of growth opportunities at an investor conference. Intermodal capacity expansion at the ports and grain delays provided the big takeaways.

If not enough 0.5% low sulfur fuel is available after Jan. 1. 2020 ships may resort to using more expensive 0.1% sulfur fuel used today in emission control areas.

Two of the nation’s largest truckload carriers said they are seeing green shoots in freight demand.

FourKites was founded with the idea of developing a cloud-based SaaS platform that allows for seamless communication and real-time collaboration in the supply chain. As it passes five years in business, founder Matt Elenjickal details why he thinks it has been successful.

This week’s addition of intermodal volume data to our SONAR platform brings us one step closer to having price, volume, and capacity for all modes of transport including air cargo, trucking, inland waterways (barge), ocean and rail.

While management teams at some of the nation’s largest TL carriers have been talking up the potential for a solid peak shipping season, Universal Logistics has seen peak season sentiment move the opposite direction.

The outlook from JBHT was notably better than the concern around the lack of an uptick in seasonal demand that many carriers expressed at multiple investor conferences in May and June.

J.B. Hunt imposes peak season intermodal surcharge to recoup costs of returning empties

Market Voice Jim Blaze writes about rail intermodal and what is happening to this area of the railroad sector.

Using data from FreightWaves SONAR, economist Ibrahiim Bayaan writes about the state of the U.S. retail market and what is ahead for this key sector.

Freight tonnage will grow 25.6 percent by the end of the next decade, the American Trucking Associations (ATA) predicts in its annual ATA Freight Transportation Forecast: 2019 to 2030.

CSX and Canadian National’s partnership to create new intermodal service between Montreal and Toronto and the greater New York City area is a strategy to expand each other’s geographical reach and compete with the long-haul trucking market.

Jim Blaze writes about the recent history of intermodal rail service and what may happen in the next few years.

Schneider National sees “less favorable” trends continuing into the back half of 2019. The company lowered guidance and announced the closure of its First to Final Mile business.

Hub Group believes “soft” intermodal volumes will begin to flatten out and that the 2019 peak shipping season will be similar to that of 2017.

Hub Group sees record earnings despite a “softening demand environment” and “increased truckload and intermodal competition.”

Knight-Swift reported results within its recently lowered guidance range and doubled down on its estimation that the TL capacity correction is underway.

J.B. Hunt posted net earnings of $133.6 million in the second quarter, down 10 percent from a year ago.

Ben Thrower recently visited the Panama Canal. He writes about the canal’s expansion and what that means to global trade and the maritime industry.

Cowan Systems has acquired family-owned regional carrier Carlisle Carrier as it looks to strengthen its Northeast presence.

Union Pacific’s (NYSE: UNP) intermodal rail service saw average speeds sink to a two-year low in the second quarter, with shippers and intermodal marketing companies reporting extensive delays in getting their freight from the railroad. The service hit came during an overall lull for West Coast container imports. And many of the delays were due […]

Jim Blaze writes about the movement of grain by rail. This is a huge business for U.S. and Canadian railroads, and is also critical to the export market of the two countries.

Intermodal giant sees rail and truck as better than option than truckload into

The report showed further deceleration in the freight markets in May and warns an economic contraction could be underway.

New incentives for container shipping could bring more boxes through the canal to the U.S. East Coast.

Today on FreightWaves NOW, we hit reefer volumes and seasonality action out West, intermodal and rail year-over-year updates, and a jobs report.

“June is a big month in the second quarter historically…and if we don’t see it here in the month of June you really have to question what we are going to see in July and August,” said Rourke.

DrayNow, the first real-time marketplace connecting intermodal freight with carriers, has joined the Blockchain in Transport Alliance (BiTA). BiTA is developing best practices and standards for blockchain in the transportation industry. Blockchain is an open, distributed digital ledger that can record and share transactions between two or more parties efficiently, securely and permanently. Blockchain enables […]

The share repurchase in its entirety represents a little more than 7.5 percent of the company’s outstanding common shares.

A report indicates that the EU is slow to adopt alternate truck fuels. Indian logistics startups are flourishing. Chinese logistics firms that help Chinese businesses relocate are winners in the US-China trade war.

This article brought to you courtesy of NEXT Trucking Intermodal and drayage carriers are seeing a drop in demand about midway through the second quarter. The U.S.-China trade war gets most of the blame, but it might be more complicated than that. After 2018’s rush to get containerized goods off of U.S. ports and into […]

Rail congestion in regions such as Chicago and Houston may have eased for now, but the railroads will still need to find ways to increase capacity at those busy city locations as the U.S. population grows, Class I railroad executives said at an investor conference this week.

Executives with eastern railroads CSX and Norfolk Southern expressed confidence this week that they can compete alongside trucks for e-commerce business.

Forward Air names Chris Ruble COO, Matthew Jewell chief commercial officer

A Canadian National (NYSE: CNI) subsidiary has acquired the intermodal assets of Alberta-based H&R Transport, a company that specializes in the over-the-road, temperature-controlled service. The acquisition will expand CN’s presence in moving consumer goods, and is part of the company’s broader effort to offer more end-to-end rail supply chain options, according to railroad president and […]

Union Pacific (NYSE: UNP) announced which intermodal terminals it would close around Chicago, Illinois, weeks after hinting on its first quarter earnings call that it planned to consolidate operations there. The railroad said on May 2 that the changes are a result of its efforts to “simplify” its supply chain along its intermodal network and […]

J.B. Hunt Transport has consolidated its sales, operations and customer support functions for its Mexican subsidiary in a new office in Santiago de Querétaro, Querétaro, Mexico.

Schneider National, Inc. held  a call with analysts and media to discuss earnings results. Most of the call focused on explaining what occurred in the first quarter and how the company will achieve its lowered guidance.

Schneider National, Inc. announced first quarter 2019 earnings of $.21 per share, $0.06 per share lower than last year and $0.10 worse than the consensus estimate.

Canadian National Railway Company reported adjusted earnings per share of C$1.17 per share for the first quarter 2019, 17 percent better than the same period a year ago.

Canadian trucking company Bison Transport acquired all of the intermodal assets of Indianapolis, Indiana-based Celadon Group Inc. on April 26.

J.B. Hunt blames its earnings and revenue shortfall on weak intermodal freight volumes, harsh winter weather and concerns about possible tariffs on Chinese imports in its first quarter earnings report on April 15.

J.B. Hunt’s earnings and revenues fell short of analysts’ expectations in the first quarter of 2019, causing its stock to drop 4 percent at the end of trading on Monday, April 15.

New trends in supply chain design have been tailwinds for the growth of the intermodal market, including the increasing length and complexity of global supply chains across modes and changing customer preferences tilted toward shipment velocity. Recognizing the opportunities afforded by a growing market, a host of small intermodal marketing companies (IMCs) have entered the space. But newcomer IMCs need better visibility into intermodal market conditions and shipment locations to be able to compete with high- volume incumbents. In this white paper, Blume Global and FreightWaves explore the current market forces driving the need for intermodal visibility.

The seller was Swedish private equity group EQT Partners, which may be trying to clean up its balance sheet ahead of an IPO.

Protecting market share is part of the battle over longer trucks.

$2 billion in capex over the next ten years will nearly double Savannah’s container traffic to 8 million TEUs annually.

Intermodal is about half the business. It saw its volumes decline but overall grew its revenue.

The operating ratio—strong enough in the third quarter that it can be argued it was earth-shaking—weakened slightly but was still ahead of the fourth quarter of 2017.

Locating intermodal assets and identifying which of those assets is available for use is one of the key attributes of Phillips Connect Technologies’ Intermodal Smart Solution.

In partnership with Blume Global… In our view, increased digitization can make drayage markets more transparent and improve asset utilization, making carrier offerings more attractive on both a cost and service basis.

An Eaton clutch defect leads to a recall of International truck models and other OEMs may have to follow suit, plus Amazon Air takes off and intermodal growth being driven by inland ports.

With the market data available on SONAR, we have ability to see all the ebbs and flows of freight movement happen in real-time.

Cowen expects softening trucking prices in 2019 to be a headwind for truckload carrier earnings, but should widen gross margins for freight brokerages.

Is the economy still healthy? Are people still making things, shipping things, and buying things? According to the railroad car data, the answer is a definitive “Yes.” 

Since its founding in 1935, Schneider has only known three leaders: founder Al Schneider, his son Don Schneider, and Chris Lofgren, the first non-family member to lead the company. Come April 2019, you can add the name Mark Rourke to that list.

The Cass Truckload Linehaul Index reached another record high in October while the company’s Intermodal Price Index points to rising intermodal costs.

The dispute sheds light on the extraordinarily secretive process governing the intermodal agreement.

Knight-Swift Transportation reported strong earnings on Wednesday, and it was immediately met with praise from Morgan Stanley analyst Ravi Shanker, who wrote in a note that the company’s stock is a “relative buy, at worst, in our view.”

SONAR’s Headhaul Index map and the HAUL.JOT Index are both showing that the return to growth in inbound loaded container flow first seen in the Long Beach/LA port is continuing and gathering momentum.

The city hopes to use its role as a landlord to help move truck traffic on to barges and to trains.

In his preview of the railroads’ Q3 earnings reports, Susquehanna’s Bascome Majors set optimistic price targets but warned that P/E valuations are at historically high levels.