Trucking contract rate increases tamp down volatility; Nikola Motor Company returns deposits on truck orders; Hunter Harrison was one of the highest paid CEOs in 2017; Xi Jinping takes the stage to defend Chinese trade practices; container lines enter bid season with a weak hand.
Freight market activity is stabilizing as carriers move into new contract cycles. The ELD hard enforcement period appears to be a non-factor so far.
Turndowns inbound and outbound of Charleston are gradually rising in tandem, indicating a healthy market. Spot rate movements will depend on where capacity is positioned once port traffic ramps up.
The number of oil rigs and the demand for flatbed trucking are rising in tandem, as WTI prices go up and the Brent-WTI spread widens.
What happens with increased turndowns in this context is that carriers don’t want to go inbound into a place—in this case, Philadelphia—as they assess the cost of outbound.
General Mills is citing higher freight costs as a reason for lower than expected earning. This is not an uncommon issue in today’s marketplace. There could be solutions coming in the future.
Container traffic into the Port of Seattle is down 22.6% YTD, starving the city of freight. Trucking spot rates have cratered, and turndowns have dropped 75% since their peak in October as carriers are forced to accept lower prices.
Shippers move more freight into the contract market to avoid higher spot market rates
For months, West Coast spot rates have been softening, allowing brokers to take big margins and shippers to move freight inexpensively, with short lead times. That’s about to change.
At least for one week, seasonality has impacted rates, according to the latest data from DAT Solutions. Spot rates for dry vans and flatbeds fell for the week ending Jan. 20.
Outbound rates from the Great Lakes have held steady at the high prices reached during last September’s nationwide spike, but over the past 7 days, they’re trending upward again.
For fleets that spend time operating on load boards, the high spot rates are a blessing. For shippers, though, it’s been a challenging time as they have been forced to adjust to a new era in trucking.
Mudslides and a dead Pacific Northwest are contributing to high northbound rates coming out of Los Angeles, while extreme winter weather in the Northeast and freight backbuilds are keeping Chicago hot.
Uberization has been a hot term to describe digital transactional brokerage. But a bigger, untapped opportunity might be available in the market
A holiday week did little to slow the rising tide of rates as 2017 came to a close. According to DAT Solutions, national spot rates for van and refrigerated loads reached their highest point of the year.
An unstable Polar Vortex first warmed the Great Lakes and then brought Siberian temperatures to the region, creating disruptive snowfalls and historically low end-of-year temperatures. These weather events only add to numerous factors keeping spot rates sky-high.
Uber Freight has added two new features to its app that it believes will help truckers find loads quicker and reduce empty miles.
ELD fine enforcement hit during peak holiday retail season. Watch out for April’s ‘hard enforcement’ period, which will coincide with increased agricultural and construction demand.
Dry van spot rates hit a 3-year monthly high in November, according to data compiled by DAT Solutions. The November rate was $2.07 per mile, the highest monthly average since December 2014, the firm said, and 5 cents above October levels.
The out-of-control wildfires burning in California have had a dramatic impact on spot rates in the region.
