With the freight recession seemingly in the rearview mirror, FreightWaves’ transportation market experts advise on how to prepare for 2025.
Perhaps the biggest question of 2023 for domestic trucking is when will the surplus of capacity fade to a point that prices stop falling. One data point provides deeper insight than simply a count of drivers or tractors.
When trucking capacity tightens and rates increase, intermodal shipping by rail becomes more attractive in general. That does not appear to have happened during the pandemic years.
Lunar New Year normally brings a slow shipping period for imports, but the lead-in period was also lackluster. With many companies calling for a return to seasonal patterns later in the year, just how close are we to that being a reality?
Many people get hung up on trying to figure out how much capacity is readily available in trucking when they should be more focused on monitoring demand trends.
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.
Dry van volume dropped significantly this month leading into the holidays, but reefer demand remains strong. Diesel price per gallon grows slowly, but the spread between wholesale and retail prices rises.
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.
FreightWaves unveiled two new features in SONAR at the F3 event, and container spot rates from China dropped further.
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.
Trans-Pacific trade is the foundation of American retail and industry. But souring U.S.-China relations threaten that.
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.
