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Thomas Wasson Thursday, January 18, 2024

Loaded and Rolling: Autonomous trucking startup TuSimple goes private

On Wednesday, autonomous trucking startup TuSimple went private after voluntarily delisting from Nasdaq following two years of stock and boardroom drama. FreightWaves’ Alan Adler writes, “TuSimple was the first autonomous trucking company to demonstrate driverless operations on an open highway. One of its trucks traveled 80 miles with no human on board from Tucson, Arizona, to Phoenix in December 2021.”

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Thomas Wasson Thursday, June 22, 2023

Loaded and Rolling: Kearney supply chain report sees ‘Great Reset’; Loadsmith orders 800 autonomous trucks

Consulting firm Kearney recently released its 34th annual Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP) report, “State of Logistics 2023: The Great Reset.” A major theme of the report is the great rebalancing from the carrier-dominated market of the past two years to a shipper-focused one as freight volumes fell against a backdrop of higher truckload capacity. The report notes that total U.S. logistics costs rose 19.6% in 2022 to a record $2.3 trillion or 9.1% of U.S. gross domestic product.

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Thomas Wasson Thursday, March 9, 2023

Loaded and Rolling: Knight-Swift CEO pans under-21 driver push; falling contract rates shutter North Carolina carrier

A plan to allow 18-to-20-year-old truck drivers to haul interstate cargo got a sharp rebuttal at the Truckload Carriers Association (TCA) conference by Knight-Swift President and CEO David Jackson. The plan was conceived as a way to address the driver shortage and is strongly supported by the Biden administration and the American Trucking Associations (ATA).

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Michael Rudolph Friday, January 27, 2023

Markets are bad, but they could be worse

Volumes have continued their recovery from the winter holiday season with a surge in pent-up freight demand unleashed into the market. Naturally, since last week’s data was affected by holiday noise, the Outbound Tender Volume Index (OTVI) faces some absurdly easy comps on a weekly basis. Even still, accepted tender volumes remain below their levels of 2021 and ’22 for the time being. 

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Michael Rudolph Friday, January 13, 2023

Freight outlook for January is grim but seasonal

Volumes have continued their recovery from the winter holiday season with a surge in pent-up freight demand unleashed into the market. Naturally, since last week’s data was affected by holiday noise, the Outbound Tender Volume Index (OTVI) faces some absurdly easy comps on a weekly basis. Even still, accepted tender volumes remain below their levels of 2021 and ’22 for the time being. 

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Michael Rudolph Friday, January 6, 2023

Freight markets stir after holiday slumber

For all intents and purposes, the month of December has only three weeks of freight activity, as the final week from Christmas to New Year’s is effectively null. In years prior, freight demand has fallen throughout the month before bottoming out in that final week. So far, December looks to be following seasonal trends, which is to say that, while shippers’ activity is winding down, this movement is not alarming by itself. Rather, the gap in freight demand between 2022 and ’21 (or even ’20) is the main symptom of current ailments.

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Michael Rudolph Friday, December 16, 2022

Current trends give a sneak peek into weak 2023

For all intents and purposes, the month of December has only three weeks of freight activity, as the final week from Christmas to New Year’s is effectively null. In years prior, freight demand has fallen throughout the month before bottoming out in that final week. So far, December looks to be following seasonal trends, which is to say that, while shippers’ activity is winding down, this movement is not alarming by itself. Rather, the gap in freight demand between 2022 and ’21 (or even ’20) is the main symptom of current ailments.

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Michael Rudolph Friday, December 9, 2022

Contract market contracts, squeezing larger carriers

Contrary to popular opinion, December is not a peak season for freight. True, the freight that needs to be moved in this month typically has greater urgency than usual, which does put upward pressure on carrier rates. But peak truckload volumes are largely influenced by maritime imports, which historically peak between July and September.

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Michael Rudolph Friday, December 2, 2022

Freight markets are feeling an early freeze

Historically, November is the month in which maritime imports begin to move inland for their final push before the holiday shopping season. Yet such imports were lost at sea this year, failing to materialize during ocean shippers’ peak season. This one-two punch of weakened import volumes and overstocked retail inventories means that carriers are left with fewer opportunities to source freight.

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Michael Rudolph Friday, November 18, 2022

Holiday gains are nowhere in sight

Historically, November is the month in which maritime imports begin to move inland for their final push before the holiday shopping season. Yet such imports were lost at sea this year, failing to materialize during ocean shippers’ peak season. This one-two punch of weakened import volumes and overstocked retail inventories means that carriers are left with fewer opportunities to source freight.

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Michael Rudolph Friday, September 9, 2022

Freight clocks out for Labor Day

Since the pandemic started, many shippers found their existing contracts unable to ensure carrier compliance. Supply and demand were especially volatile, and so spot rates, which are more sensitive to changing market conditions, handily outpaced contract rates.

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Michael Rudolph Friday, August 12, 2022

Industry eyes are wide shut

Since the pandemic started, many shippers found their existing contracts unable to ensure carrier compliance. Supply and demand were especially volatile, and so spot rates, which are more sensitive to changing market conditions, handily outpaced contract rates.

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