The November State of Freight webinar took place against a continuation of a market that is showing only the slightest signs of a turnaround.
Five takeaways from September’s State of Freight webinar.
Iowa-based truckload carrier Heartland Express reported a sixth consecutive quarterly net loss (excluding one-time gains) in its Q4 earnings report.
ATRI has released a June update to its operational cost of trucking report, which saw significant increases in insurance premiums and truck and trailer payments during 2023.
Outbound demand in Harrisburg and Allentown, Pennsylvania, bottomed out at the start of the month and are starting to slowly rise. Dallas and Fort Worth, Texas, both are seeing rejection rates drop to a two-year low.
Atlanta still owns the most market share by outbound volume but saw a drop in its value as demand falls further. Imports to the Port of New York and New Jersey fell to their lowest levels since 2021, bringing surface transportation volumes down with them.
Contracted tender volumes in Ontario, California, remain at their lowest levels since 2020, and markets in Illinois are struggling to recover from drops this month.
Markets along the East Coast in the path of Tropical Depression Nicole are seeing relatively normal fluctuations in rejections in volume compared to previous severe storms.
Markets across the board have been seeing drops in both inbound and outbound volume since the start of the month.
Outbound volumes from Atlanta are picking back up after hitting their lowest levels since 2020, and imports to the Port of New York and New Jersey drop, dragging truckload volumes with them.
Truckload volumes in Elizabeth, New Jersey, are still rising after a boost in imports last week, but that will likely change in the days ahead. Detroit’s volume boom went bust, bringing reactions to their lowest on record since 2018.
Charlotte, North Carolina, is seeing a slow recovery after volumes dropped to their lowest levels since February of 2021, and reefer volume in Milwaukee is up more than 22% this week.
Outbound demand in Denver is swinging up after falling to a two-year low earlier this month, and Salt Lake City has shown consistent headhaul market activity since Labor Day.
Outbound demand in Fort Worth, Texas, is up for the second week in a row, and diesel prices have stopped increasing but show no sign of which direction they will go next.
Ontario, California, outbound volumes have been trending up the last two weeks, while volumes in Joliet, Illinois, started to recover but have flatlined.
Overall outbound volume levels out of Milwaukee are down this month, with the majority of the drop coming from reefer demand. Atlanta’s outbound volumes have trickled down this month, bringing down its market share.
Dallas lost more market share by outbound volume this week as volumes continue to decline, and spot rates from China to the East and West coasts of the US dropped after a week of little to no change.
Volumes out of Seattle are trending up this week after reaching a two-year low, and diesel prices are up more than 30 cents since the start of the month.
Imports to the Port of Houston saw an increase in the first week of October, bringing up truckload volumes. Fall produce in Spokane, Washington, builds demand.
Imported container volumes to LA are up this week after taking a drop in the beginning of Q4, allowing the surface transportation market to start to recover leading into peak season.
Demand peaked over the summer in Detroit, but volumes are taking a sharp drop this month; and Nashville sees a major upswing in Q4.
Outbound tender rejection rates, a measure of the percentage of truckload shipments tendered to carriers by shippers, have reached a record at 5.05%. For trucking, this will be a cause of mostly stress instead of celebration.
Reefer volumes in Illinois remained elevated throughout most of October 2021. Although they were up leading into October this year, reefer volumes have since dropped significantly.
After a monthlong decline in volumes from Southern California, they begin to tick upward this week, and spot rates from Rotterdam to New York rise 8.4%.
The Lakeland and Jacksonville markets are both recovering from Ian, but tender rejections remain relatively high. Retail diesel prices are swinging back up, collapsing the spread between retail and wholesale.
After reaching a six-month high in outbound demand, volume in Chicago is on a steady downward stream, and both major markets in Pennsylvania are also experiencing declines.
Dallas, Cincinnati and Denver are all experiencing upward trends after outbound volume lows.
Atlanta is seeing consistent levels of outbound volume, retaining the majority market share with 4.1%. Diesel prices are decreasing at a faster rate than they increased over the summer.
The port of Savannah imported more than 200,000 TEUs in September, and truckload volumes in Denver plunged to a two-year low.
Reefer volumes in Fresno, California, continue a decline as September closes, while both inbound and outbound volumes in Memphis, Tennessee, are consistently trending upward.
Atlanta is seeing a sharp rise in outbound volume, and markets in Florida, southern Georgia and Alabama increase inbound volume in preparation for the hurricane.
Truckload volumes in Ontario, California, decline as the ports hit their lowest market share in decades, and Port Houston sees a drop in imports.
Imports to the Port of New York and New Jersey are down this week, causing the Elizabeth, New Jersey, truckload market to soften. Shipments worldwide are down more than 33% since July 1.
Headhaul markets historically begin to send out more volume in preparation for the holiday peak, but 2022 continues to show different trends.
Rejection rates in El Paso swung upward in response to an increase in outbound volume, and the Department of Energy clocks diesel prices below $5 per gallon for the first time since April.
Outbound tender volumes are down in the last couple of days to their lowest levels since the start of the summer, and the record breaking levels in Detroit are over — for now.
Outbound volume in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, is booming, raising its market share to 3%. Flatbed market experiences a significant decrease in rejections.
Ontario, California, makes a full recovery of outbound volume, and the spread between rates to import to the East and West coasts increases.
FreightWaves has partnered with MerQube to bring the first index to track the performance of the supply chain and logistics industry. National outbound volume levels out while rejection rates continue their decline.
Phoenix and Denver are both seeing an uptick in outbound volumes days after the holiday drop, and capacity in Elizabeth, New Jersey, handles the increased port volume.
Containerized imports to Savannah were increasing before the holiday, and rejection rates out of Dallas fell 100 basis points since Monday.
Nashville, Tennessee’s, rejection rates have crashed to their lowest values since April 2020, putting downward pressure on spot rates, but in Kansas City, Missouri, rejections and rates are both rising.
The rate at which carriers are rejecting freight out of LA is pushing spot market rates upward, while the opposite is happening in Detroit.
At the start of September, outbound volumes in Indianapolis dropped 4.5% overnight. Meanwhile, in Greenville, South Carolina, they increased 14.5% overnight.
Salt Lake City is seeing increased outbound volume to start September, while Denver continues to experience a decline.
Outbound volumes from New Orleans are rising sharply at the end of the month while they plunge in San Antonio.
Outbound volumes in Allentown continue to rise at the start of the week, and Detroit levels are nearing a record since 2018.
Outbound volumes in Ontario are up after a 12.3% drop earlier this month but decline in the formerly greener pastures of South Carolina.
Reefer volumes in Northern California start to fall, and Bowling Green, Kentucky, shows signs of a headhaul market.
The discrepancy between inbound and outbound volumes in Louisville, Kentucky, is the greatest it has been on record. Philadelphia continues to see an increase in the Headhaul Index.
Brokerages that already have customer contracts allow agents more rate stability
Jacksonville shows steady signs of its headhaul nature after backhaul activity earlier this year. Outbound volumes in Salt Lake City have decreased 11% in August.
Rebuilding tornado-damaged areas of the South could add stress to flatbed capacity in the coming months.
Driver as a service: J.B. Hunt becomes Waymo’s first self-driving freight customer, Commentary: The dangers of dwell, Market update: Outbound tender rejections decline amid rising spot rates
FreightWaves’ Top 500 Largest For-Hire Carriers list FreightWaves just released the inaugural Top 500 list of the largest for-hire trucking fleets in the U.S. The ranking is based on tractor count and provides information on fleet size regardless of segment. For example, there is not a distinction between flatbed, LTL or dry van carriers; instead, […]
The benefits of pets in the cab, port woes in the U.S. and China, and no usual post-holiday dip in volumes.
Tender indices are the most relevant benchmarks of market demand and capacity. Now through Bloomberg Enterprise Access Point, FreightWaves is enabling industrial and financial market participants to access these critical data sets..
Fleets on the East Coast need to make every attempt to maximize capacity and assets
Companies are paying significantly more for transportation than they were a year ago with many contracts yet to be implemented.
“Driver detention is a leading cause of lost earnings and driver dissatisfaction,” said Elkins.
The Daily Dash is a quick look at what is happening in the freight ecosystem. In today’s edition, C.R. England became the latest carrier to announce a large pay increase for its drivers. Plus, analysts debate the value of the Tesla Semi program and industry groups push for transportation workers to be among those with early access to a COVID vaccine.
Reliance Partners’ Jordan Chastain explains that controlled growth is the key to successful fleet scalability.
DDC’s Chad Crotty recommends carriers take a managed approach between tech integration and applying practical knowledge as a workforce planning strategy.
To view more FreightWaves infographics, click here.
“Our data shows that Powerfleet’s over-the-road customers have not only rebounded, but have surpassed the pre-March 13th levels by nearly 7%,” said Daniel Romary.
vHub, which connects owners of underutilized trailers with those looking for short-term trailer usage, has opened its platform to integration with most telematics systems. Also, China trade deal in doubt, retail imports fall and road funding drops.
Late season winter weather heading to northern Rockies tonight, possibly Midwest Friday.
Severe thunderstorms could briefly delay freight flows today across Southeast, including top-volume Atlanta market.
Severe storms could slow down truckers tonight from key freight market of Dallas to near Chicago.
Southern California heat wave will keep reefer drivers on their toes this weekend.
Severe thunderstorms, flash flooding may delay freight flows across the South.
Severe storms, flash flooding could delay freight flows across the South next two days.
Potential blizzard conditions Easter weekend could delay freight flows from Rockies to Great Lakes.
Heavy rainfall next two days could delay freight flow in Southern California, including major market of Ontario.
Heavy snow, flooding rain could delay freight flows in southern California, including major market of Ontario.
Capacity remains tight out west where snowstorms could delay freight flows.
“This one looks pretty good for early April.” Late season snow storms could delay freight flows through eastern California.
Early season snow melt, potentially excessive spring rainfall could flood Plains, Midwest again.
Capacity remains tight in the Northwest freight region as heavy snow continues to fall.
Snowstorm may briefly throw off balanced Seattle market.
Capacity remains very tight in Denver freight market as snow storm approaches.
Heavy snow coming to Denver freight market could tighten capacity a bit more.
Snowstorm heading to Denver, Midwest freight market this weekend.
Biggest snowstorm in three months coming to the Sierra Nevada this weekend.
One of the leading load boards shuttered since Friday forcing customers to find workarounds.
A colder than normal spring across northwestern Mexico meant the Mexican table grape export campaign suffered a delay of several weeks, spiking demand in June for reefer trucks out of Arizona and south Texas. Coupled with a record-breaking Hermosillo, Mexico-based table grape crop, this year’s export campaign has been a perfect storm of a late […]
Expedited carriers and brokers discuss the reasons for weakness in expedited spot markets.
Port container volumes, railroad volumes, and truckload volumes are all down year-over-year.
On today’s episode, Chad Prevost is joined by Zach Strickland to discuss what’s happening in the surprisingly soft national tender rejection index.
